The Rusty Yellow Tricycle
by GracefullyFallingDown
Summary: There was a boy. Staring. His mouth was slightly open and his hand was still on the door handle as if he had just walked into the room. And he was really, really, really hot. Did I say really enough? But unfortunately, as soon as I processed how extremely hot he was, I also processed that I was still in my bra and lacy blue thong. No wings. More twists than a prezel factory. AH AU.
1. Stripping, High Heels and Embarrassment

**Hey y'all! Remember me? Yeah, didn't think so. I have taken a loooooooong hiatus from FF (Basically my ENTIRE freshman year…boo on me…) but I have come back to bother all of you who have me on author alert once more! 'Cuz guess what? _You: What? _IT'S SUMMER! Oh yeaaaaaaaaaaaa :)SOOOOOOO ima start writing again!* Yays* And my first inspiration has come from the book about one Miss Maximum Ride, so sit back, folks, and enjoy the…well…Ride **

**X**

_**The Rusty Yellow Tricycle **_

**X**

"Max! Get your lazy butt out of bed! The curling iron is hot and I am NOT letting you leave this house with your hair looking like died in it!" screamed my younger sister, Ella. I groaned and rolled over, pulling my bright purple pillow over my ears to block out her the threats coming from the direction of the bathroom we shared. "I swear on my life, I will drag you out of the bed by your fingernails! We are going to make a good first impression, damn it!"

"Don't swear, young lady!" I faintly heard my mom yell from downstairs. "And get out of bed, Max!"

"Whyyyyyyyahhhhhhhhh…" My question morphed into a yawn as I pulled myself from beneath the thin white sheets and observed that somehow my black comforter had been flung halfway across the somewhat large room. Restless night, I mused as I trudged belatedly towards the bathroom. Ella was already in there, her dark hair pin-straight and her makeup about halfway done. She was swiping mascara on as I entered, still unsure of quite what was going on and yawning tiredly. She looked at me sideways, and did a double take, her expression morphing from one of triumph to one of horror.

"Shower. Now." She said firmly, brandishing a bottle of condition at me. I glanced at myself in the mirror, and unfortunately had to admit she was right; my waist length blondish/brownish hair was knotted and clumped, and my eyes had a bruised purple look about them. I wasn't exactly at my prime Max-ness. (Yes, this is a real word. I swear.)

"Fineahhhhhhh." I said, my answer turning into another yawn.

"Jesus, did you get any sleep?"

"I don't know, ask him yourself." I replied as I stripped off my tank top and shorts and climbed into the shower.

"The hot water's almost gone, so be quick!" Ella warned. I turned the squeaky knob to the hottest possible setting, and stood up, luxuriating in the warmth—

And then was showered in ice. I yelped retreated to the other side of the tub where the water only hit my feet.

"Thanks for using all the hot water, Ells!" I said angrily, now fully awake. Ella, however, was unfazed.

"Should have gotten up earlier. Now wash your hair and let me fix it. Cold water dries it out less anyway." I resisted the urge to flip her the bird as I carefully maneuvered myself in the shower, making sure that only my head got wet as I scrubbed most of the knots out of hair and left the rest for Ella to deal with. I stepped out, dried off and was tossed a bra and panties by Ella. Apparently this was all I was allowed to wear at the moment, because she didn't offer anything else as she pushed me into the chair in front of her and hefted a blow-dryer and a brush in her experienced hands. I closed my eyes and let her work her magic.

It was weird being back in our old house in Arizona. We had moved away with my mom when I was only 5, leaving my friends, school, and father behind. Now, 10 years later, my father was dead and we had come back to a place I barely remembered.

The houses in our neighborhood were really close together (think jumping distance) and the house we were in was nice enough. Better than our apartment in Seattle, anyway. It was two stories, pale blue, and had a big back yard that I think I played in with the next door neighbors when I was little. There was a deflated soccer ball back there, a rusty yellow tricycle, and a collapsed trampoline that we hadn't bothered to move yet, since we had only arrived here about three days ago, and had spent those days situating ourselves. There was nearly no trace of the man who had lived here alone until the day he had died in a drunk driving accident on the way home. My father. I didn't remember him, and I didn't want to. All of my memories of this place were of my mother baking cookies and of me playing with the neighbor kids, whose names were…Iggy and Fang, I believe. Siblings, like Ella and me. I remembered, the summer before we had moved, our group, four year old Ella, five year old Iggy and me, and six year old Fang, had been inseparable. Thank God that was all my mind would let me see of this past life. I didn't think I wanted to see any more.

The blow-dryer clicked off and Ella put some goop in her hands working and massaging it through my hair before attacking me with the curling iron (You think I am being over dramatic; think again, bro.). Ella was pro, though, and finished me in about half an hour. She glance at the clock.

"Shit! We have, like, ten minutes to catch the bus! I'll run down stairs and grab us some bagels and whatever, and you put on the outfit I laid out for you on the bed!" Ella dashed down the stair and was immediately was pulled into a lecture from out mother for her mouth. My darling sister didn't know that, in my mom's house, you could cuss, but it had to be quietly. That woman had the ears of a cat, I swear. I walked out into my bright, sun-lit room. It had windows on three sides, but most of the light was obscured on one side by the house to our right. All my windows were uncovered since we hadn't had time to get blinds get, and they were open, letting warm, dry air filter through the upstairs of the house. Ella's room adjoined to mine, and we had the bathroom between us to share. I checked out what she had laid on the bed for me. There was a black shirt with the words "Yeah Buddy" in white and teal, teal short-shorts and teal converse. I wa shocked that Ella had forgone her somewhat more…frilly style to put together something I would actually wear. I was about to bend over to retrieve the shirt when a flash of movement caught my attention and I glanced up.

There was a shirtless boy. Staring. His mouth was slightly open and his hand was still on the door handle as if he had just walked into the room. And he was really, really, _really _hot. Did I say really enough? But unfortunately, as soon as I processed how extremely hot he was, I also processed that I was still in my bra and lacy blue thong.

"_Shit!_" I screamed, before diving into the bathroom.

**X**

"And that, Mom, is why I screamed the "S" word." I explained to my highly disapproving mother as I gobbled down the last remains of my bagel and slung my teal owl backpack over my shoulder.

"Alright, well, we'll talk about this later, because I have to go to work. Bye girls!" she said, before strolling out to the driveway and getting in her white Cambry, her curly black hair bouncing with every step. I waved goodbye and turned on the TV, sitting down on the foor because we didn't have furniture yet. A minute later, Ella clicked in, her five inch green heels not making her fall down a staircase or two like they would me. Her wrist jingled with gold bracelets, and I took in her clothing. It consisted of clothes I would never, ever wear. First of all, there was a skirt. A frilly skirt. And a pink shirt, and a flowerer in her hair. Topping it off was a bright pink Victoria's Secret satchel. She glanced up from her iPhone, her eyebrow raised.

"Are we planning on leaving today, Max?" I nodded and pulled out my own iPhone, checking the screen.

7:31, it said in innocent white script.

"SHIT!" I screamed for the second time that day, as I jumped to my feet just in time to see the bus pulling away from the curb. Ella groaned and I cussed some more. It was a three mile walk from here to the school, and we would never make it in the 15 minutes we had to get to our first periods.

"We CAN'T be late on our first day!" Ella said frantically. "Do you know how bad that would look?"

I didn't actually care, but nonetheless I didn't want to walk 3 miles, especially after having to endure the curling of my hair, however there seemed to be no other option.

"C'mon, Ells, let's get going. We might be able to make it if we run." I said matter-of-factly. There was no use in standing around feeling sorry for ourselves.

"Easy for you to say." She muttered, looking down at her 5 inch heels as I opened the front door and started briskly walking. I was at the bottom of our cement walk-way when a black pick-up pulled off of the curb where it was parked and began driving in the direction we needed to go.

"Hey! Wait! Just a sec!" I yelled as it passed me, running to keep up. The truck slowed to a stop against the curve and the driver leaned across the passenger side to unroll the window while I stood hopefully facing him. His face was obscured by the door and all I could see was a mess of blue-black hair. He straightened up and I was about to start talking when I realized who the guy driving the pick-up was.

It was the boy from the window.

Well, damn. I was kind of hoping I would never have to see him again. I choked on my unspoken words as my face heated up, and he did a double take.

"Oh, hey." He said. I was hoping he was as embarrassed as I was and would pretend it never happened before he did something that somehow angered me and tugged at my memory.

He smirked.

_He smirked._

"Oh, you're the stripper from the window. Nice to see you own some clothes—well, not THAT nice."

"Whoa, this is the dude who saw you naked?" said Ella really helpfully. Kicked her in the ankle and gave her an annoyed look.

"I had a bra and panties on, Ella. Thanks for your input though!"

"There weren't very much panties." The guy said conspiratorially to Ella with a wink. My face was probably in full tomato-mode by now. I think I said something really smart like "Shut up." before Ella butted in.

"Yeah, we missed the bus, so can you take us to school?" the guy shrugged and leaned back from the passenger side. It was one of those trucks where you have to fold down the seat in front to get to the seats in back, so Ella folded the seat down and motioned for me to climb in.

"Um, no. I need more room than you, so I get shotgun." I said matter-of-factly. I was 5'6, whereas Ella was barely hitting 5'2.

She groaned and complained "But you _always _get shotgun!"

"'Cuz I'm _always _bigger!" I said as she climbed in the back. I clicked the seat back into place and slid into the car, shutting the door and beginning to roll up the window.

"Leave it down." The guy reached across me, stilling my hand, and where he touched me…something weird happened. You know how people say they feel sparks when the touch? Yeah, turns out that can _actually happen. _We both quickly jerked out hands back and looked oddly at each other for a moment.

"Static electricity much?" I asked, breaking the awkward silence. He just raised his eyebrows and began to drive. There was more silence.

Awkward silence.

Really awkward silence.

"A gay baby was just born." Ella wispered from the back.

"Believe it or not, Ells, saying that doesn't make the silence less awkward." I intoned.

"It did for me."

"So," said the guy, breaking into our conversation. "You're…Ella?"

"Yup." She answered.

"And you are…?" he asked me.

"Max. Max Ride. You?" he braked suddenly at a red light and turned to me, his deep brown eyes like liquid. I don't think I can convey to you his extreme hotness, but think male model. Then multiply that by your grandmothers age.

"Max. Don't you remember me?" Come to think of it there was something vaguely familiar about those eyes—"It's me. It's Fang."

**YAY! They meet again:) ****I'm not one to beg for reviews…(actually I TOTALLY am)…but they make me write faster! **


	2. Naughty Cops, Shakespeare and Detention

**First things first—Ella and Max's outfits are posted on my profile.**

**Ooookay….more reveiws that I was expecting! Oh my goodness! I love you guy's sooooo much! However, if you happen to have read my only other (successful) multi-chap story, you will know what I am going to do…REVIEW CONTEST!**

**Yup:) Sooooo until for this one, I think we will have to get to…oh…_50 _REVIEWS before Max and Fang have a hang out sesh (that may or may not involve him sneaking in her window). That's right, y'all, so better get reviewing!**

**ANNNNNND—**

**New twist:D(I like twists)**

**THE FIFTIETH REVIEWER WILL GET TO APPEAR AS A CHARACTER IN THE FOLLOWING CHAPTER! Oh yes:)Now on with the story!**

**X**

**_-Recap-_**

_"Max. Don't you remember me?" Come to think of it there was something vaguely familiar about those eyes—"It's me. It's Fang."_

**X**

Of course, being me, I managed to _completely ruin the moment._ My response was an _epic fail _and I don't even want to tell you about it. But, of course, you already know, since you are in my mind.

I think.

Well, whatever.

"You're not Fang." I said bluntly, looking into those (yummy) brown eyes. Fang had been shorter than me, scabby and scrawny with that grayish-brown skin Mexicans get when they don't get enough sun.

The guy (Fang?) lifted his eyebrows. "I'm not? Because I'm pretty sure it says I am right here-," he flipped to let me see the back of his shirt, which seemed to be a jersey of some kind and had writing across it that read in blue capital letters "FANG", "—and here-," he lit up the screen of his Samsung something-or-other and showed us the screen that proclaimed it to be "Fang's Phone." "—and I'm pretty sure if you looked at my license plate it would say 'FANG14" too."

"But Fang was…short. And ugly." I said, before realizing what had slipped out and clamping a hand over my misbehaving mouth. Fang chuckled and looked at me sideways.

"Well, Fang isn't 6 anymore. And Fang was never, _ever _ugly. I'm pretty sure it's a crime in some parts of the world to even put the name 'Fang' and 'ugly' in the same sentence."

Now it was my turn to lift my eyebrows. "Well, clearly not this part of the world. I don't see any cops, do you?" I asked, looking around dramatically…

…and actually seeing a cop in the rear view mirror with the lights of his car on.

"Shit." Fang swore as he pulled over and the cop glided in beside us. He lookedaround the car, annoyed.

"Does everyone have their seat belts on? Nobody was smoking or drinking? No dead bodies in the back? THEN WHY THE HELL DID I GET PULLED OVER?" he screamed as the cop walked to the window. I glanced at her.

And glanced at her again.

And stared.

She looked like someone off a strip-tease where they dress up in a fake nurse of police uniform. She was tall, blonde and tan with big boobs, big pouty lips and smoky eyes.

"We meet again. Can I see your license?" she asked in a husky voice, batting her eyelashes at Fang while he dug around in his pocket until he produced a somewhat bent card. he handed it to her briskly, not even giving her a second glance. She pouted at him for a moment, maybe hoping he would notice, but he stared straight ahead, and she resignedly stopped. She looked down at his picture for a moment before handing it back.

"Okay, free to go." She said, swatting his arm playfully. Something inside me tightened, though I wasn't sure why.

"Okay, first of all, don't you need the names of the other people in the car?" he asked, his voice laired with condescension.

"Oh, um, yes." She said, squinting at him and pulling out a note card and a pen _from her bra. _She leaned into the car, over the open window, positioning her body so that Fangs face was nearly buried in the crack of her cleavage.

"What's your name, honey?" she asked him, her voice sugar sweet.

"Like you don't know. You've only pulled me over...what, eleven times now?" he said acidly.

"You're keeping track now? You know, we don't have to spend time with each other _just _when I'm enforcing the law. We could _break some rules_, if you know what I mean." She said suggestively, wiggling her boobs in her face. Okay, this lady was really starting to piss me off now. She was rubbing her cleavage in Fang's face and she was going to make me late to school. I felt my face start to heat up, and just as I was about to saw something that you probably aren't supposed to say to police officers, Fang butted in and made me forget my unsaid words.

"This is Ella Ride in the back, and this in the front is Maximum Ride," he then looked up at the blonde pointedly. "_My girlfriend._"

That gave me tingles up my back and sparks in my chest, a sensation I was not used to experiencing. I can't say I disliked it, though, as my angry flush morphed into a pink blush and I waved coyly the woman leaning over my "boyfriend".

Well, the cop cleared out fast after that. As she hurried away, butt jiggling in the skin-tight jeans, Fang leaned out the window to call after her "Hey, why did you pull me over anyway?"

"Uh—broken tail light? You should fix that." she said, her answer really more of a question. Fang rolled his eyes and pulled away.

"Girlfriend?" I questioned after a moment of silence. He grinned crookedly at me, and I think that my heart melted and ran out of me in drool form because he was _just that hot._

"C'mon, you know you liked it!" he winked at me as we pulled into the parking lot of the school. I grinned at him sweetly.

"Well, at least there's ONE thing that hasn't changed about you." I said. He cocked an eyebrow.

"And what would that be?"

I snorted. "Still annoying as Hell!"

**X**

I jogged into my first period just as the bell had rung. I had gotten completely lost on my way, and had had to ask a talkative caramel-skinned girl, who introduced herself to me as "Nudge", the way to my class. Now entering my Honors English class, I glanced around, looking for an open seat. There was one next to a blonde boy with teal eyes and tanned skin. He wore a white shirt that made his heavy muscling even more apparent. I shrugged inwardly and sat down next to him as the teacher continued with his lecture, barley noticing my arrival.

"—The only way, if there is any way, in which a conception of Hamlet's character could be proved true, would be to show that it, and it alone, explains all the relevant facts presented by the text of the drama. To attempt such a demonstration here would obviously be impossible, even if I felt certain of the interpretation of all the facts. But I propose now to follow rapidly the course of the action in so far as it specially illustrates the character, reserving for separate consideration one important but particularly doubtful point—." he droned on about Hamlet as I pulled out my teal recycled paper notebook and began to write down the first thing that came to my mind.

_I know it's been a while_

_But when I see you smile_

_You know it sets my world on fire_

_And when you touch me boy_

_Sparks I try to destroy_

_Love makes us all liars_

"Whatcha writin'?" said the boy sitting next to me as he leaned over my shoulder. I whipped my notebook closed, hoping he hadn't seen what I had been scribbling. _Nobody _looked into my song book. _Ever._ Not even Ella, and even though we were about as different people as there could be, we were still extremely close.

"_Nothing._" I said acidly, and he leaned back, grinning, his hands up in surrender.

"Okay, sorry, sweetheart. Just askin'." He said, and I immediately noticed a slight southern accent. It was very light and not noticeable unless you had lived in Washington for ten years, where there were no Southern people _ever._ He cocked his head at me.

"So where are you from, sweetheart? You're new here, clearly." He said, propping his hands behind his head and reclining in his metal chair.

I jutted my chin out combatively, trying to send a "leave me alone" vibe out to him as he grinned at me with straight white teeth. "Washington. And my name isn't 'sweetheart', it's Max. And how do you know I'm new here?"

I cocked my eyebrow. I wasn't _trying _to be a bitch, but…well, I was trying a little bit since he had interrupted a possibly good song mood and I knew I would never finish writing it now that I had stopped.

"Hey, Max. I'm Dylan. And there two reasons that I know you're new. One is that you're wearing black, and here in Chino Valley that is going to be a big mistake you'll never make again. And number two is—."

"Why is wearing black a mistake? Do you guys have gangs here or something?" I asked, hearing doubt creep into my voice. Chino Valley was tiny, having maybe 11,000 people in it, almost half the number that my old home of Kenmore which had about 20,00 people living in it. I misses my old school, Inglmoor High. I missed knowing the people who sat next to me in each class and getting breaks from the teachers because they liked me most of the time. Now I was in Chino, where everything was the color of dust and the high school had to keep little blue awnings over the windows to keep the heat out.

Dylan giggled, which was a sound I didn't think I had ever heard a guy make, before regaining his man-posure. "No, but you'll look like you took a shower by the end of the day. Too hot here, yah know?"

"I guess…"I was stopped by a tap on my shoulder. I whipped around and was greeted by the piggy face of my English professor.

"Miss Ride?"

"Yeah?" I asked, not sure how to treat this guy. Was he a cool professor, maybe slightly eclectic and crazy like my old one?

"You were late. Detention." He said, and walked away. I stared after him, my mouth dropping slightly open.

"And that," Dylan said. "Is reason number two I knew you were new. No one is late to McKay's class. Ever."

I scowled at the teachers back. "But I'm new! I got lost! Give me a break!"

"Was Romeo given a break when he thought Juliet was dead? No! Was Ophelia given a break when she was ordered to a nunnery? No! So will you get a break because you were_ late to class_!"he asked, acid lacing his words.

"_But Ophelia and Romeo weren't real people!"_I screamed, wondering how a _teacher _could be so stupid.

He quieted, looking hurt, before handing me a note to go to the principal's and proclaiming dramatically, "Go. Just go. I cannot even look at you right now." as he opened the door without looking at me. I headed out, grabbing my binder from my desk, and Dylan gave me a small wave goodbye. I nodded to him, death-glared the damn teacher, and headed out into the hall.

Frickin' great. I wouldn't be able to wear my favorite color now without looking like a wet cat, had detention on my first day, plus a visit to the principal's office, and English (my old favorite class) was destined to be hell.

And now, to make matters worse, I didn't even know where the principal's office was. I stormed down one hallway that ended in a pair of doors going outside. I wanted so badly to just run out them and not come back, but I couldn't ditch on my very first day, so I grudging turned around and ran smack into somebody.

"God damn it, could this day get any worse!" I screamed at the white-clad chest I had just bumped. I tipped backwards, but two golden-tan arms stretched out to steady me.

"Whoa, Maxie, calm down. I know you're attracted to me, but let's try to keep it PG while we're at school, 'kay?" I shoved the chest, which I now knew belonged to none other than my _favorite _person Fang (note the sarcasm), away and turned my death glare on the cocky bastard.

"So not in the mood right now, Fang! SO NOT IN THE MOOD!" I double-punched him in the chest, but it was pretty weak. "AND DON'T CALL ME MAXIE!"

He help up his hands in defeat, and I reflected that this was the second time today that a guy had done that to me. I was unsure whether this was bad or good, but I didn't really care as I stormed down the hallway, turned left, and realized that it was just an alcove and a trophy case facing me, not even a respectable hallway.

"Lost?" came an annoying drawl from behind me, I felt my anger deflate as I turned around and nodded.

"Where are you headed?"

"Principal's." I said belatedly.

"Cool, same with me." He flashed me a lopsided grin as he sauntered up beside me and looped his arm through mine, pulling me down the hallway behind him. "Gonna meet the big guy on your very first day?"

"Yup." I replied as I disentangled my arm from his and pulled away.

"You haven't changed from the little trouble-maker I knew from daycare, I see." He said, flashing me a sarcastic grin. I cocked an eyebrow.

"You remember me from daycare?" he winked at me before responding.

"Hell yeah. You always used to run around naked in the yard. I see that hasn't changed either." He said with a knowing look that I didn't care to share with him as we approached the principal's office.

"Go screw yourself." I said as I pushed open the door.

"Only if you help."

"Ah, what have we here?" said the principal. He was a beer-bellied man with a receding hairline and small, round glasses. Think "Mr. Weathersbee" from the Archie Comics. "Nick. What a surprise!"

"It's Fang." He muttered under his breath.

"Kicked out of Miss Ford's class again, I see. And you—you are a new face here. Please state your name and crime so I can offer the proper detention time. Fang, you're doing a week."

"You didn't ask me my name and crime!"

"I don't need to. Now, you are..?"

"Maximum Ride, and I got kicked out for saying that Romeo and Ophelia weren't real people." I replied. It sounded as lame when it came out of my mouth as it was when it happened. Fang had pushed his chair back and was leaving, but paused in the door, probably to listen.

The Principal eyed me for a moment, then pulled out a slip and scribbled on in. "A week for you, too, young lady."

"What! But I—!"

"A week! Now get back to class!" I huffed and snatched the paper from him before sharply turning on my heal and storming out the door. Fang was leaning casually against the wall outside.

"Looks like we'll have some time to bond after school today, Ride." He said as he strolled next to me. My angry walk matched his long, lazy strides.

"Look, can you just show me where my class is and leave me alone?" I asked, irritated. Everything about him irritated me, every inch of his 6 foot and something body, from his Converse-clad feet to those dark, chocolaty, eyes that I just melted into every time I saw him… what was I saying?

"We're here, Maxie." He said, gesturing to a door on my right. I turned to tell him to _stop calling me Maxie, _but he had already disappeared around the corner.

**REVIEW, I'LL UPDATE FASTER!**


	3. Mandarin, Man Boobs and Cancer

**Okay, soooooooooooooo…**

**inerd123 will be appearing as a character in this chappy for giving me a cool name for Fang!**

**Inerd123- Charlotte, Charlie for short, will be Nudge's friend (and has a secret passion for Iggy)**

**WHICH BRINGS ME TO MY NEXT POINT—**

**If you give me a good review, i.e. something long and thought out or something that makes me laugh, I will PM you and ask you if you would like to appear as a minor character in the story. Then, you send me a description of your character, and…yeah.**

**AND DON'T FORGET, REVIEWER #50 WILL APPEAR AS A NOT-SO-MINOR CHARACTER IN THE NEXT (AND POSSIBLY MORE) CHAPTER(S).**

**We thank you, inerd123, for the clever name for Fang that you have provided.**

**AND NOW, HERE WE ….**

**X**

**-**_Recap-_

_"Look, can you just show me where my class is and leave me alone?" I asked, irritated. Everything about him irritated me, every inch of his 6 foot and something body, from his Converse-clad feet to those dark, chocolaty, eyes that I just melted into every time I saw him… what was I saying?_

_"We're here, Maxie." He said, gesturing to a door on my right. I turned to tell him to stop calling me _Maxie_, __but he had already disappeared around the corner._

**X**

By the time lunch rolled around, I was FED UP with this school, these teachers, these people, and everything to do with the god-forsaken town of Chino Valley. First, the whole English-fiasco happened, and then Dylan bugged me about my song journal the ENTIRE REST OF THE PERIOD, since I had left it in the classroom and he had taken the opportunity to flip through it and look at _every bit of personal information I had written in the past six months_.

"They're great, Max! Why don't you sing them?"

"Why don't you shut up?"

"I'm serious."

"Hi, Serious, I'm Max."

-This was pretty much what our conversation consisted of for the next half an hour until class was over.

Next was P.E., in which I was forced to dig clothes out of the lost-and-found to match the regulation white-shirt-black-shorts-longer-than-your-fingertips dress code strictly enforced by the man-ish teacher, Mrs. Ballard. I'm pretty sure that I now have lice.

After P.E. was my third period Art class, which I was had high hopes for that were soon dashed by the teacher, Mrs. Aschenbrenner, who got angry when I tried to call her "Mrs. A" and made me clean out the entire closet of paintbrushes, all the while saying, "It isn't that difficult. Au-shen-bren-ner. Easy."

Fourth was the hated Geometry class, which may as well have been Mandarin class since I had no idea what anyone was saying the entire time. Mrs. Huff was continually asking me questions about this and that, such as, "Do you know the formula for finding the volume of a regular polygon? It's alright if you don't." I felt exhausted and dumb by the time I stumbled out and headed to lunch.

I had been dreading lunch all day. I patted down my pockets, and—yes, of course—I had forgotten my lunch money on the _freaking first day. _I glanced around, trying to find Ella. There she was—I sauntered over, hoping to commandeer some of her food. Ella, of course, was already surrounded by a posse of friends, and I sat down across from her on the empty side of the table and stole one of her fries, the rest of which she pushed at me. Ella wasn't big into eating, a trait that she and I did not share. I was fairly certain that if consuming food was a profession, I would a renowned member of _that _work force.

"Hey Max! This is Nudge—."

"We've met! I saw her in the hallway on my way to first period! She's totally great, Ella, is she your sister? You guys don't really look alike, but sometimes that happens, you know? Like I look nothing like my brothers! That probably 'cuz I'm adopted, but still. Are either one of you adopted—?"

"And this is Charlie." said Ella, interrupting Nudge's rant and rolling her eyes a little. "I have her in almost all of my classes. Same with Nudge."

"Hi Max." said "Charlie". She had white-blonde hair and was super pale, with big black nerd-chic glasses adorning her face and was clad in an orange shirt, high-waisted tweed shorts, and orange wedges decorated her feet. Totally Ella-ish. Nudge was decked out in similar overly-made-up fashion (at least according to me), in a pink skirt, pink halter top, and a white vest, pulling off a bit of a Nicky Manaj look with pastel pink lipstick, makeup that people with Nudge's coloring (Carmel skin, dark hair. A light-skinned black person, maybe half asian as well) didn't usually attempt. I was faced by a wall of pretty people.

All of a sudden, I saw Charlie's eyes flick up, widen, and run up and down the body of somebody who was behind me.

"Oh, hey, Fang." She said, as he slid into the seat next to me, trying to sound casual, though her voice was a bit higher than usual.

"Stalk much?" I said, not turning as I munched through the last of the fries and plucked Ella's burger off her plate.

"Only you, Victoria." said Fang mockingly. Oh good. Underwear jokes. He looked down at my feet. "I see you aren't wearing your thongs today. Oh wait—yeah you are."

I punched him in the arm, but he merely chucked. So did Ella, and I shot her my best death-glare, but it didn't seem to have much effect. I was going to need to work on that.

"So, is Iggy here?" piped up Charlie in her quiet voice. Iggy…the name rang a bell…

"Yeah. He'll be here in a sec." said Fang, biting into his Subway sandwich. "Want my foot long?"

I rolled my eyes. "Want my foot up your ass?"

A blonde boy who looked to be about Ella's age slid in next to Fang, and Nudge started to look a little flustered.

"Hey Zephyr—."

"Call me Gaz, please." There was something familiar about him…wait, Gaz?

"Gaz? As in, Gazzy? As in, the Gasman?" I said, leaning around Fang's somewhat hulking frame to get a better look at the kid.

"Um, yes, random chick I don't know." He said, sounding creeped out.

I glanced at Ella, and she returned my look.

"Yeah, way to greet your cousins, asshole." I said, pretending to be angry. "We only haven't seen you in ten years."

Gazzy's eyes widened as he realized just who the 'random chick' actually was.

"Wait, what? Max!" and then he swooped me out of my chair and spun me around in a dramatic hug. I laughed, realizing how tall he had gotten. He had to have at least 5 inches on me, and he was lightly muscled, the kind guys get during their growth spurt. I hugged him back as he twirled me one last time.

"You guys know each other?" asked Nudge and Fang at the exact same time as Ella practically hurdled the table in order to greet Gazzy.

"Jinx!" screamed Nudge.

"Freak." muttered Fang.

"Butt head." said Nudge sweetly.

"Turkey." replied Fang. Nudge recoiled.

"Oh, don't even _go _there, you man-boob lover!" It was Fang's turn to recoil.

"I thought we agreed never to talk about that!"

"Yeah, well that was before you brought up the Turkey Incident!"

"SOOOO…you guys know each other?" cut in Charlie as Ella and I tried to understand what Nudge's relationship to Fang was.

"Yeah! He's my cousin! I haven't seen him in forever!" I grinned at Gazzy, taking in the 14 year old giant. "You've grown so much!"

"Really? It's only been ten years!" he replied sarcastically. "But why are you guys back so suddenly? Obviously not the family connections." he rolled his eyes as he referred to the ongoing feud between my mom and his. They hadn't spoken in my memory, but they had still let is play with each other while sitting on opposite ends of the park bench.

I glanced around at the crowd of people listening (well, except for Fang and Nudge-they were still arguing). "Tell you later." I said with a look. "But what's new with you?"

He opened his mouth, but then his face darkened considerably. "You probably don't know yet...but...well..."

I gave him a questioning look. "What?"

"Well...Angel. She-she has cancer."

**Dun dun dun! Review, and next chapter you get the hang out sesh once we get up to 50!**


	4. Bombs, Bugs and White Bikinis

**OKAY, NEXT GOAL: 100 REVIEWS BY CHAPTER 5! Can we do it? YES WE CAN! If y'all review your little butts off! Only 26 more to go! And if you give me 100 reviews by chapter 5….I'll give you a prize.**

**I. Will. Give. You. FAX!**

**-AND-**

**I'll tell you a MAJOR secret.**

**-AND-**

**I will give you some Eggy:) **

**BUT…if you don't give me 100 by chapter 5, well…**

**Maybe I'll give you some Eggy, maybe a little secret. But you'll have to wait for the Fax.**

**And the 100th reviewer will, again, appear as a character! **

**Headless Gummy Bear was the 50th, reviewer, so she/he will be appearing as character Zia.**

**Fang's soccer uniform is posted on my profile, along with Nudge, Charlie, Iggy, Gazzy and Zia's outfits.**

**On with the story!**

**X**

_-Recap-_

_He opened his mouth, but then his face darkened considerably. "You probably don't know yet...but...well..."_

_I gave him a questioning look. "What?"_

_"Well...Angel. She-she has cancer."_

**X**

I stood there, dumbfounded (and I'm sure with my mouth hanging open too) as Gaz told the story.

"Last year we started noticing that Angel bruised really easily—like, _really _easily. You'd grab her wrist and it'd turn purple the next day. And she had fevers all the time. At least once a week we had to take her hope from school 'cuz she'd be at a hundred and one."

Gazzy looked slightly away from me, and his voice had taken on a dead quality. I suspected that the only way he could get through telling everyone the story was to repeat the same word over and over until he didn't have to think about them anymore; still, I saw the tenseness of his jaw and the pain in his eyes.

"So we took her to the doctor, and he found a bump in her armpit, and they tested that and they did a blood cell count, and we found out that she had Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. They caught it early, but… it's been hard. She's at home right now. She just got back from her last round of Chemo. She's going into remission, the doctors say." He finished with a breath of hope as he grinned weakly down at me.

"Oh—oh my god." Ella stuttered as she wrapped her arms around Gaz. "Why didn't you call?"

He cocked an eyebrow. "I was four years old when you moved, and we haven't exactly kept in touch, Ells."

I was still standing still, shocked. Angel had been tiny when I had moved—two or three, I thought. She should be about 13 now, and she had cancer! Cancer. My friend Tess's mom had had breast cancer back in Washington, but she was forty-something. Angel was THIRTEEN.

"We've all been there for him. For both of them." Fang said, coming up behind Gazzy and resting a hand protectively on his shoulder. I saw a softness in his eyes that I hadn't seen since I had met him this morning, a kind of caring I didn't think someone as horribly obnoxious as he could posses. But, then again, everyone cared about something.

"Good." was all I said. Gazzy nodded, and I nodded at him, and Fang nodded at me, and Ella looked at us all as if we were slightly insane (she was correct), and just when things were getting really awkward, a tornado of strawberry blonde hair came tearing up the aisle between the lunch tables and parked itself right in front of me.

"Okay, guys, we need to get out of the building immediately unless you want to inhale some seriously noxious gas." The tornado said in an excited whisper. Fang punched the tornado in the arm.

"Dude! Seriously? Again?" The guy, who I assumed was Iggy, snickered and nodded.

"Hi, I'm Ella-." said Ella, sticking out her hand, which was brushed aside by Iggy.

"Introductions can wait until we vacate the premises. We seriously have about 45 seconds until this place is gonna be so full of gas it'd give the Nazi's a run for their money." I raised my eyebrows at Fang.

"Again?" he nodded.

"I think we're on evacuation number 4 now. The school had started having fire _and_ gas drills at the school." Iggy was pulling people to their feet.

"Let's go, let's go! No—don't make it so obvious! Okay, you go that way, you that way. Nudge, take this chick—,"he pointed at Ella, "and Fang, take this one. Rendezvous at the Bug in 2."

Fang and I casually walked to the back doors of the cafeteria, making casual small-talk as we went. "What did you think of the math exam?"

"I don't know, since I didn't take it, smart one. I'm probably not even in the same level of math as you."

"Calculus?"

"Geometry. I'm one of the dumb sophomores."

"Already knew that."I Bumped his shoulder as we exited the building, and he chuckled lightly, rubbing his arm. I was caught off-guard at his lack of a comeback, and I turned to look at him. His face was relaxed and distant, like he was thinking about something else. Maybe he knew Angel better than I had first assumed. He and Gaz seemed pretty close—

WHUMP.

And I went _down._

"What the fu—Funyuns, Mrs. Kelly. I was going to say Funyuns." said an unfamiliar voice next to me. I heard a disapproving "Tsk!" and a door shutting as I looked up, disoriented, to see Fang leaning over me.

"You two having fun down there?" he asked, not even offering a hand to help me up (not that I would have taken it, but still, the effort would have been nice).

"Surprisingly, no." said the girl lying next to me on the ground. I regarded her as I flexed my aching fingers to make sure that they weren't broken. She had long coppery hair, blue eyes outlined with dark eyeliner, and was clad in bright red skinny jean, an AD/DC tee shirt and knee-high black converse boots. Her rainbow backpack was a few feet away, the contents spread out across the concrete outside ground. I pushed myself into a sitting position.

"'Cuz if Maxie made you angry, I would be happy to supervise a—," he paused and smirked. "—_wrestling match._"

The girl seemed to consider it. "Oh, sorry, my schedule's full today! However, if _you _wanna wrestle me sometime, I'm sure I can clear a space." she hauled herself up off the ground, winked, and said "I'm Zia." Before slinging her backpack over her shoulder and pushing the door open into the building, leaving a, for once, speechless Fang.

And I hated her already.

Wait, what? I'm not usually one for irrational hate.

Scratch that; I'm _totally _one for irrational hate.

Just not because of boys…

Boys like Fang…

What the heck? I dismissed my thoughts about this guy, this total, complete jerk wad, this stuck up soccer player (I had found out that they had a home game today; thus the uniform) who had really, really nice brown eyes and focused on the situation at hand.

"You gonna help me up?"

"You gonna let me?"

"Hell no."

"I rest my case." He said as he walked away. I got up and stumbled after him as I heard a muted "BOOM" in the building behind me.

"That was _way _longer than forty-five seconds!" I yelled as we broke into a run, heading for a baby blue Volkswagen Bug parked across the street from the school.

When we reached the car, we found Ella, Nudge, Iggy, Gazzy, and Charlie crouched behind it, laughing and clutching their stomachs.

"You sound like a pack of hyenas." I politely informed them as Fang and I dropped down in line next to them. Fangs shoulder was pressed against mine, and tiny, uncertain tingles sent a current through my body. I shifter so our shoulders barley brushed.

"What took you guys so long?" Iggy, who was seated next to Ella, asked. He appeared to be emptying an entire bag of Lays into his mouth straight out of the package, only taking short breaks to break and talk. Iggy had grown into a, well, pretty hot guy. I mean, he was tan-ish, with strawberry hair and piercing blue eyes. He was dressed in a purple tee shirt, grey cargo shorts and white shoes with the Ralph-Lauren logo stamped on the side in black. By the way Ella was slightly angling her body toward him and trying to ignore him at the same time, I knew she liked him. Ella could start liking someone in a minute, and this was yet another quality we didn't share. Or, hopefully, didn't share…

"Maxie decided to see what being bulldozer was like." replied Fang nonchalantly. "Turns out, she's a natural."

I glared while the others burst out laughing (once again). Nudge was hiccupping and Gaz was moaning "Oh, my stomach hurts…" I remembered only a few minutes ago he'd been on the verge of tears, before Iggy showed up and unknowingly saved the day. I decided that I liked Iggy, even though he was _totally _staring down my baby sister. Hmm…

_Speaking _of future couples, Nudge was quietly asking Gazzy something. They were sitting next to each other too, and he nodded and pulled out his phone. I chuckled to myself; Nudge was a determined girl. I decided I liked her too. I saw her eyeing his somewhat plain attire (grey tee shirt with a red star, white cargo shorts and red Vans) and knew that if she got Gazzy, she would probably renovate his closet, and I sent out a silent prayed that she didn't do the same thing to me, because, even though I let Ella fix my hair and pick my clothes (sometimes), THAT WAS IT. I want need any more help in that department. While I wanted to be friends with Nudge, at the same time…yeah…

I felt my back prickle and knew someone was watching me. I whipped my head around to see Fang quickly looking away.

"What?" I asked, more loudly than I meant to. The eyes of our group turned to Fang.

"You—uh—have something in your hair." He pulled a curling lock out off my shoulder and pulled a tiny twig out, giving me unwelcomed butterflies that I pushed down severely as I twisted away.

"Oh, uh, thanks?"

"Yeah."

"SO," Iggy started, as he stood up, stretched and chuckled. "Check it out."

We all peeked over the edge of the car, and were greeted by the entire population of Chino Valley High dashing as far away from the school as they could, some with hands over their noses, others with shirts covering their faces, and still others leaning into the ornamental shrubbery framing the parking lot, losing their recently acquired lunch.

"Dude!" Gazzy and Iggy high-fived and cheered. "Five barfers! New record!" Ella and I met each other's gazes, exchanging a look that said 'these-people-are-freaking-insane-and-are-we-really-related-to-the-blonde-kid' (or at least that was what the look said to me. Y'know, 'cuz looks can talk and all).

"Ohmygod, Iggy you are so immature!" groaned Nudge. "I can't believe you're my br—."

"Ohshittheprincipal'scomingthisway." Muttered Iggy quickly. "Get in the car, guys, and make it fast!"

"There's seven of us—!"

"Make it work. People have laps for a reason."

So we stuffed ourselves in. Mind you, Bugs are made to seat, _at the maximum_, 5. (And the maximum was very uncomfortable to be at already). Iggy drove, Ella sat in front, and Charlie sat in-between Nudge and I while Gazzy and Fang sat on top of all of us as they were wider than we were. Gazzy was on Nudge and about a third of Charlie, and Fang was on me and half of Charlie.

"Jesus, you're heavy. What have you been eating, rocks?" I asked, annoyed.

"Why, missing one from your head?"

"Yeah, actually. Did you lose a piece of shit from yours? 'Cuz one drove me to school today and I know where he lives if you want to put him back where he belongs."

"Thanks for your consideration, but the only piece of shit I know of is under me."

"Gee, I thought you finished potty training a while ago."

"Ohmygod stop I'm going to wet myself!" screamed Nudge, who had tears of laughter running down her cheeks.

Fang and I looked at each other. "Guess I was wrong about you, too, huh Nudge?"

Fang looked at me conspiratorially. "We always keep a pack of Pull-Ups handy, just to be safe."

"WE'RE HERE!"screamed Iggy over the ruckus, pulling up at his and Fangs house. He parked the car in the driveway, and we all tumbled out into the noon-day heat. "Wanna turn on the sprinklers?"

"Yes!" screamed Nudge and Charlie. Ella and I were, again, confused.

"When it's hot, we all put on our bathing suits and run through the sprinklers." Fang explained. "It's like a pool, but ghetto-ified."

"I don't have a swim-suit." said Ella sadly.

"Use one of mine." Nudge shrugged. "Charlie is. You too, Max."

"Um, I don't think so…" I started before I was pushed inside the house and up the staircase identical to the one in our house.

"No thanks! Let go! I don't need one!" I yelled as I struggled to free myself from them.

Nudge grabbed my hand and pulled while Ella and Charlie pushed, and they somehow managed to get me up the stairs and into Nudge's room.

Wait…what?

"You live here?" I asked, somewhat stupidly.

"Um…yeah?" said Nudge. "This is my house."

"But..Iggy and Fang…"

"Oh!" she laughed. "I'm adopted! I mean, obviously. But yeah, they're my brothers."

Oh. Now the bickering and the odd closeness made sense.

"Okay, I'm gonna wear this one." She pulled out a robin's egg blue strapless bikini with a bow on the top and matching bottoms. "Charlie, you can have the orange one—,"she tossed a fairly plain strapless orange bikini to the pale girl as I began to feel nervous—were they ALL bikinis? Didn't she have a nice one piece, preferably black? "—Ella, you can have this—," she tossed her a black bikini with a little rainbow tie in the middle, "—and Max, sorry this is all I have lelt. At least you're tan enough that you won't look naked in it!"

No. this couldn't be happening. This was the exact opposite of what I had been hoping for (black one-piece). It was small. It was horrifying. It was my worst nightmare.

It was a white string bikini.

"There is no way in HELL I am wearing this!"

"I'll tell mom we ditched school." Ella threatened.

"You wouldn't."

"I would." The wall of girls, already clad in their bathing suits, glared at me.

I relented, stripping off my shirt and bra and wriggling into the bikini. Then I shucked off my jeans and underwear, and just at I was pulling on the (tiny) bottoms, the door banged open.

"Are you guys ready ye—shit!" and the door bang shut.

I looked at them in horror.

"Who. Was. That?"

"Erm…"muttered Ella.

"Fang, and I am going to KILL him!" said Nudge venomously (or as venomously as Nudge could be).

I groaned, my cheeks flaming. "Really? Twice in a one day?"

Nudge cocked her head. "What do you mean, twice?" I tugged on my swimming suit as Ella filled her in.

"Well, at least he only saw your butt!" said Nudge cheerfully.

"Yeah, I guess." I muttered.

UGH.

**X**

Ella had forced me to stay and do the sprinkler-thing for about two hours, reasoning that, "you don't look any different in that white bathing suit than you did naked!"

Thanks, Ells.

Many smirks and perverted jokes later, I was finally in my room, relaxing on my bed, when I heard a knock on my window. I tensed, and—there it came again. I rolled over and slid out of bed, clad in a white tank top and red basketball shorts, and I opened my curtains—

To see Fang, balance on his window sill, smirking. He motioned for me to open my window, and I motioned for him to…we, the middle finger gives you a pretty good idea for what I 'motioned' him to do.

He rolled his eyes, and turned around, grabbing a pad of paper and a black Sharpie, and wrote something quickly before holding it up for me to see.

_Can I come over?_

I retreated into my room, grabbed my notebook, and wrote back;

_**No**._

_Is that all you know how to say?_

I answered back with an annoyed sigh.

_**No.**_

_I think you just proved my point._

_**No, FANG.**_

_There you go. Now let me in or I'll throw rocks at your window all night._

_**Why should I?**_

'_Cuz I need help with math._

_**WE'RE NOT IN THE SAME MATH CLASS.**_

_I need help with Art._

I sighed and opened my window, meaning to lean out it and talk to him, but before I could collect my thoughts, he had launched himself from his window sill and directly into me.

We both went down, me on my back and him on top of me, however when I got the breath knocked out of me, he simply rolled nimbly off of me as I laid there, my mouth gaping open and closed like a fish's.

"Whoops, sorry. You shouldn't have been standing there though." He said pitilessly, regarding me sprawled on the floor.

"How—was—I—supposed—to—know—you—were—going—to—do—that!" I gasped, clutching my stomach. My eyes were closed in agony, so I wasn't expecting to feel strong arms encircle me and cradle me to a chest before depositing me on my unmade bed.

"You okay?"

"Like—you—care." I said, still gasping, though my breathing was beginning to calm a bit.

"I really am sorry, Max." he said, and his voice help a softness I had heard when he was talking to Gazzy about Angel. "I didn't mean to hurt you."

I opened my eyes to glare at him, but found it was impossible to do so because he had been looking at me with such tenderness. As soon as my eyes had opened, though, his face snapped resolutely back to his smirk.

"Do you want me to check your stomach to make sure nothing's broken?" he asked with a wink, his fingers playing with the hem of my tank top. I slapped his hands away.

"I'm fine now, no thanks to you. Can you leave now?" I was sure able to glare at him now. He sighed in faux-dejection.

"Fine, Maxie, but I'll be back!" he said as he backed up from my bed, allowing me to swing into a sitting position.

"Sleep good." Before I had a chance to react, he leaned in and gave me a quick hug, his arms closing around my waist momentarily, before he pulled away and flipped out my window into his room, pulling his curtains shut and turning off his light, while my whole body tingled.

I wondered what I would dream about tonight.

**Whoo! Over three thousand words according to Microsoft Word! Review Review Review!**


	5. Pancakes, Dreams and Making Out

**So I deleted that last chapter because a) I HATE authors notes with a PASSION. I get all excited, and then BAM! Just, kidding, this is just me telling you the lame resons why I haven't updated. But I figured it was close enough so it wouldn't matter. Here's the link the the petition if you still want it.**

_w w w . change petitions / fanfiction- net- stop- the- destruction- of- fanfiction- net_

_**and b) it didn't have anything to do with my story, so yeah.**_

_**Here's the dealio, guys; RoyalCrown29 was the closest non-anonyms reviewer, so she/he get the character.**_

_**ROYALCROWN29 WILL BE THE LAST PERSON TO APPEAR AS A CHARACTER. (Melanie Rose Picket)**_

_**MY 150**__**TH**__** WILL GET AN EXCERPT OF THE NEXT CHAPTER, AND IDK IF THEY WANT ME TO ADVERTIZE THEIR STORYS OR WHATEVER, I CAN DO THET TOO.**_

_**Next chapter, I will tell you guys your prize once we get to 150.**_

_**Ciao, and on with the story! **_

**_X_**

"_Can you leave now?" I was sure able to glare at him now. He sighed in faux-dejection._

_"Fine, Maxie, but I'll be back!" he said as he backed up from my bed, allowing me to swing into a sitting position._

_"Sleep good." Before I had a chance to react, he leaned in and gave me a quick hug, his arms closing around my waist momentarily, before he pulled away and flipped out my window into his room, pulling his curtains shut and turning off his light, while my whole body tingled._

_I wondered what I would dream about tonight._

**X**

I woke up to one of those cliché Disney Princess movie days, where the birds were chirping and the sun was shining and the air smelling like pancakes.

Wait.

The air didn't smell like pancakes in Disney Fantasies.

That was only in MAX Fantasies!

I hurled myself out of bed and sprinted to the door, vaguely wondering in the back of my mind why the air smelled like _deliciousness_ since no one in my family had any cooking talent _at all_.

Whatever. I should be eating pancakes instead of thinking.

I arrived in the kitchen and was greeted by the sight of a griddle, six pancakes waiting to be flipped on it, their raw white topsides inviting me to pick up a spatula and do the job myself. I was just about to fulfill the aforementioned action when a hand grabbed my eager wrist, removed the spatula, and said, in a manly voice, "Stop. I have to put the chocolate chips in, Maxie."

Well, the hand didn't say that. But you get the idea. I hope, anyway. 'Cuz, you know, hands don't really have manly voices. Or any voices at all, actually. They were just kind of …there, silently doing…hand things.

"God damn it, Fang! What are you doing in my freaking house?"I squeaked in surprise. And yes, I squeaked. _Me._ That should give you as idea of how surprised I was.

"Well, it appears that I'm making chocolate chip pancake. What are you doing in your freaking house?" he asked reasonable. I glared at him through my bangs.

"Living." I huffed as I turned away. "The only reason you're still alive is because there were pancakes involved."

"Uh-huh. Whatever you say, Maxie." He chuckled. "Oh, and by the way, I like the look."

"Bet you do." I said, wiggling my hips in my short shorts a bit as I walked up the stairs to my room. "And _stop _calling me_ Maxie_!

**X**

"!" screamed Ella. "BREAKFAST IS READY!" I had just finished getting ready, thanks to Ella, who had dominated the bathroom for what seemed like hours before she finally let me in to brush my hair and pull on clothes. I was now clad in some old shorts and a worn-out soccer tee shirt that had to have been at least four years old. I jogged down the stairs and grabbed a pancake from where they were cooling, seeing Ella's head poking over the edge of our newly acquired couch, next to what I could only assume was Fangs head. O was going to go sit down on the floor next to them and watch TV for the remaining half an hour before we drove to school, but Ella whipped around and surveyed me, her expression one of supreme disgust.

"What?" I said as I shoved another pancake into my my mouth. Fang may be a pain in the ass, but he sure can cook. I find it really sexy when men can cook. I momentarily pictured Fang, shirtless and greased up, sautéing a pan of mushrooms with a towel flipped over his shoulder, his muscles flexed and popping, his hair artfully messy, and…what the _HELL _was I thinking?

Jesus. Something was wrong with me. I met the guy YESTERDAY.

But damn, the boy was HOT.

I am _such _a girl.

"You think you can go to school in a ratty pair of cut off shorts and a stained tee-shirt? You look like a man!" Well, apparently Ella disagreed with my previous observation of myself.

"Yeah, c'mon Max! You _so _have no fashion sense." Fang said in a girly voice.

"Says the only guy in the room." I replied smarmily.

"Actually-,"Ella observed, "He's even dressed better than you."

Unfortunately, this was true. Fang had on a black tee shirt that said "I'm jealous of me too", faded ripped jeans and black Vans. Ella had on a cropped leather jacket over a teal dress with tights and wedges.

"Whatever."

"And I wouldn't wear those shorts, Maxie." sing-song-ed Fang.

"Why, Fangy?" I asked, hoping this would get under his skin. Ella looked at us strangely, which we probably deserved.

"Because," he said, stepping closer to me. I took a step back, but my shoulders hit a wall. Fang was standing close to me, looking down at me, his chocolate—nearly black, actually—eyes staring into my own. He leaned closer and whispered in my ear. "It's going to rain."

Then he backed up, smirked, and exited the house through the sliding glass door on our back porch.

"Well, SOMEBODY has a little crush on you, Max." Ella proclaimed as she dragged me up the stairs. I blushed, then realized I was blushing and wondered _what the heck was wrong with me._

"I think he's just messing with me." I said. She wiggled her eyebrows and began digging through her closet. "And b y the way, you are NOT dressing me today. I'll change, but I get to choose what I'm going to wear! I was Barbie yesterday!"

Ella huffed. "Please?"

"No."

"Can I just do your hair?" I thought about it.

"As long as it doesn't take more than 5 minutes to do." She sighed.

"Alright, I guess." I went to my closet and began to search.

Ten minutes later, I was dressed in my black Nirvana tee-shirt, a cropped leather vest with a hood, cuffed jeans with little rips and a pair of burlap Toms desert botas. Ella stayed true to her word and merely teased my hair up into a messy bun. We were just about to head out the door when my mother stopped us.

"You're not going to ride the bus today, are you? That nice boy next door—what was his name again? Tooth?—said he would drive you. And he made breakfast this morning, in case you didn't know. Chocolate chip pancakes, Max! Your favorite!"

"His name is Fang, Mom, and he is not a nice—!" Ella cut me off.

"Really? Wow! That's great! We'll go out and meet him now." She pulled me forcefully out the door. I was barely able to snag my backpack before she slammed the screen and turned on me.

"What do you think your do, huh?"She asked in a hushed, annoyed voice.

"Uh, what?" I said confusedly.

"You were going to tell mom that Fang was a jackass of whatever, right?"

"Well, I probably wouldn't have used those exact words, but yeah. Why?"

"Because he's not! So what if he _accidentally _saw you in your underwear? You don't have anything to be embarrassed about. And plus, none of us are twelve years old anymore. He _likes _you, Max, and he's being _really _obvious about it, but you're too immature to get past that one thing!" she huffed. "He made you _breakfast _this morning. He woke me up and asked me what you liked! So get over it already!"

I stood there, somewhat stunned. "But then why does he keep making perverted jokes?"

"Oh my _God._"Ella cast her eyes skyward. "Because that's just what guys _do. _I'm finding it seriously hard to believe that you've _ever _had a boyfriend."

"But," I started combatively, "How can he like me? He only me _yesterday_!"

"Technically, he met you when you were like one. _But,_ even if that weren't the case, it could always be love at first sight!" she rolled her eyes like this was the most obvious thing ever. I thought back to the sparks in the car when he touched me, how I had gotten lost in his eyes, the dream I'd had about him last night…

_-Dream-_

_Fang and I were sitting in the courtyard of my old school, holding hands and sharing a milkshake like in those cheesy old Malt-Shop movies in the 1970's. Our fingers were laced together, the sky was purple, and my arm was tingling pleasantly as he leaned over and pecked me on the lips._

"_Love you."_

"_Love you too."_

_-End dream-_

"No." I said resolutely. "I don't believe in love at first sight."

"Well, if you refuse to admit you like him and he likes you, at least don't screw it up for me, because I like Iggy, and I don't want mom to believe you and think the whole family is messed up." I shrugged; I could be nice about Fang to mom on those conditions.

"Okay, whatever." Ella grinned.

"Thanks. Now, today, you're going to ride with Fang, and I'm going to see if Iggy's still home so he can give me and nudge a ride because I am SO not riding in those little seats in the back of Fangs truck again!"

I shrugged, not really listening as I pulled out my song notebook and started writing the first thing that came to my mind.

_It's nice to meet you finally_

_After all this mystery_

_It's nice to see you standing there_

_It's nice to see you really care_

_It's nice that I can hold your hand_

_It feels so good to help you stand_

_I didn't know I wandered blindly_

_It's nice to meet you finally._

"Whatcha writin'?" Ella poked me in the side. I snapped my notebook closed before she could glimpse my words.

"Nothing." Convincing. I'll have to add that to my list of things to NOT use as excuses. (This list is much more eElla cocked an eyebrow but said nothing.

"Well, here we are. Hey Iggy!" she called, waving to the pale strawberry-blonde who was sitting on the back porch. He winked and waved back at her.

"I was just about to leave. You coming with me and the Nudginator?" he asked as the so-called "Nudginator" opened the screen door and waved us over.

"Oh my gosh you guys are here! Good 'cuz I was getting impatient, I thought we might have to leave without you, but obviously we don't because now you're here! You look really pretty, Ella, where'd you get that dress? Oh and Max, Fang was talking about you _allll _yesterday, and then how he made breakfast for you, wasn't that sweet? If he weren't my brother I'd be sooo jealous! And Ella, I have some nail polish you'll just loooove, and—hey!" Fang had come up behind her and put a hand over her mouth. She glared up at him and spread his fingers.

"You could have just told me to be quiet!" she frowned.

"Would that have worked?" he asked, and then, not waiting for an answer, motioned to me.

"Come on, or else we'll be late."

"Why can't I ride with Iggy?" I asked testily, not wanting to give in to the overwhelming urge to fling myself into Fangs arms and let him carry me off into the sunset.

_Très cliché. _

"Because Iggy is taking Ella and Nudge, and picking up Gazzy on the way and you'd all be squished in there like sardines," He said in an annoyingly reasonable voice. "And because I want you to ride with me."

"Why?"

""Cuz I need to talk to you." He said. "Meet me at the car. I have to go grab my stuff."

He exited, looking a bit greenish. Hmm. Wonder what was up with him. I turned around to say goodbye to Ella, but was faced with her and Iggy staring deeply into each other's eyes, his arms inching their way around her waist. Okay, time to vacate the premises. I charged out the front door and into Fangs truck, throwing my stuff in the back and bucking my seatbelt. I sat there, wondering how Ella could have let that happen so fast. Me, I was more cautious. Plus, there was defiantly a huge problem with me and Fang getting together—

He slid into the passenger's seat and turned on the engine, which stalled a few times before roaring to life. I leaned uncomfortably against the window with my arms crossed as he pulled away from the curb and began driving.

"So, Max."

"So, Tooth." He looked at me sharply.

"What?"

"Tooth. That's what my mom thought your name was, and I'm sticking with it." He grinned crookedly and rolled his eyes.

"Fine, but you get a nickname too…Cupcake?" I looked at him, horrified. "Okay, maybe not that. But anyway, need to talk to you."

There was a long silence.

"So talk."

"You should really get some curtains."

"I _have _curtains, oh blind one. I got them yesterday, right before you decided to practice your football takedown on me." I flipped my hair as I remembered that little ordeal.

"Football's stupid. I play soccer, smart-ass. And I missed my game yesterday, too, which I am going to get seriously chewed on for." I sighed.

"Why do I care about this again?"

"All I'm saying is you should get some curtains that don't show your silhouette when your light's on."

"You could see me through them?" he winked.

"On second thought, keep them." We were at school now, and he pulled into the parking lot. He jumped out of the car and grabbed both of our things out of the back, and I tried to open the sticking door. Fang circled around the car, and when I pushed and he pulled, we managd to open the thing. He looked down at me, his eyes glinting as he handed me my bag.

"I've been meaning to get that fixed."

"I suggest sooner rather than later." He laughed, and I noticed how close we were standing. I looked at him questioningly, and was about to say something when suddenly—

We were kissing. And it wasn't a peck, either. It was an intense, hard, needy kiss that may or may not have involved a little tongue. His soft lips worked magic on my own, and my eyes fluttered shut.

Oh my God, it was _amazing._

We seemed to pull away at exactly the same time, our chests heaving and his hands on my waist. He looked at me, gauging my reaction.

"You wanna do something tomorrow night?" he asked, his hands still on my waist.

And then reality came crashing down around my still somewhat star-struck self.

"Fang, I…" I started, and brushed his hands off my waist. "I'm sorry, but…"

He looked at me, confused. "What?"

"I…well, I have a boyfriend." He took a step back from me, where I leaned against the truck, guilt tugging at my stomach. He regarded me coolly for a minute, and then shrugged.

"Okay, whatever." Then he turned and walked away.

And even though I had barley known him for a day and I could hardly think of any reason to like him, I felt my heart break a little bit.

He never turned back.

_**So melanie will be appearing next chappie, sorry. Couldn't make it fit into this one.**_

_**Everyone's outfits are on my profile.**_

_**love ya!**_

_**-Addi**_

_**p.s. REVIEW!**_


	6. Texting, Redheads and Jealousy?

**I SUCK.**

**I'm so, so sorry. It's been…forever.**

**But, *lame excuse time***

**I had family over, and I got caught with my boyfriend so I went into solitary confinement.**

**However, because of the boyfriend thing, future steam will be…steamier;)**

**Sooooooo, here we go!**

**BTW, if i get to...200 reviews, fang and the new redhead will break up!**

_-Recap-_

_"I…well, I have a boyfriend." He took a step back from me, where I leaned against the truck, guilt tugging at my stomach. He regarded me coolly for a minute, and then shrugged._

_"Okay, whatever." Then he turned and walked away._

_And even though I had barley known him for a day and I could hardly think of any reason to like him, I felt my heart break_ _a little bit._

_He never turned back._

_-Recap end- _

**X**

What I found out today was that Fang was incredibly, freakishly, scarily…

_Popular. _He was the kind of popular guy that teachers hated, jocks loved and girls threw themselves at. And he threw himself back at them. Every. Single. One.

But you know what? I didn't care. Because I had a boyfriend. Sure, he lived thousands of miles away…

…and for some reason I hadn't missed him since I met Fang…

…and I kind of wanted to break up with him and run back to Fang, crying and begging for another kiss…

But you know why that wouldn't happen?

BECAUSE MAXIMUM RIDE DOES NOT CRY.

Plus, she has a boyfriend.

And now she's talking in the third person.

God, she's weird.

Yeah. So while I was thinking about him, I pulled out my phone and texted my boyfriend as I walked to lunch after seeing Fang and some red-headed girl practically having sex against the lockers.

**Hey Sam:)**

His reply was nearly instantaneous.

**Hey babe!:) What are you up to?;)**

Dear lord, I hated when he called me that. Whatever. (Not thinking about Fang, not thinking about Fang, not thinking about Fang, not thinking about Fang…)

**Walking to lunch. Wbu?**

I snapped my phone shut and quickly twisted in the combination to my locker. _15…17…4… _after a couple tugs and a few well-placed kicks, it sprung open and I pulled out the bagged lunch I had made for myself. I had successfully (well, if successfully means _without blowing up the kitchen_) made myself a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, cut up an apple, and put three cookies into a plastic baggy. I had also packed 2 slices of leftover pizza, two juice boxes, a single serving-size bag of lays, and a package of powdered donuts.

So I'm a big eater. Sue me. (Actually don't, I spent the last money I had on that package of powdered donuts.)

I trudged to the cafeteria where I spotted Iggy with his arm slung over Ella's shoulders and her grinning happily, tucked into his side. Nudge was beside them, and she waved me over excitedly.

"Oh my gosh hi Max! I know I've only known you for a day be it feels like SO MUCH LONGER! Hey, who're you texting, and when are you and Fang going to get together? Did sparks fly on the car ride? Oh my gosh have you heard this song, I can't remember quite how it goes but it totally describes you and Fang! _This is crazy, and I just met you, but here's my number, so call me maybe—!"_

"Nudge!" said Iggy sternly. "Give Max a chance to answer!"

Nudge grinned sheepishly. "Sorry, go."

"Well, first of all, I'm texting _my boyfriend Sam, _and Fang and I'll get together when hell freezes over. Nothing flew on the car ride, except maybe my backpack when we took a sharp right turn." I considered for a moment. "And those aren't the words to that song."

I looked at Nudges disappointed face and decide to never ever ever ever ever tell anyone about _the kiss._

"I thought for sure you guys were going to date! I mean—," I cut her off be for she could start out at full tilt again.

"Well, I just met him yesterday, and—," this time it was my turn to get cut off. I spun to see a guffawing Fang with his hands lazily cupping the same red-head from earlier's butt as he pulled her closer to him. She had her hands on his pecs and was whispering something in his ear and giggling. Gazzy walked past him on the way to sit down at our table and turned to say something to him, but Fang shot him a dark-eyed glare, so Gazzy quickly turned away and slid in, ducking his head, but not quickly enough to hide the hurt look that flashed across his innocent face.

"Jesus, what's his problem?" Iggy broke the silence as Fang and red-head sidled away from our table.

"Yeah, really. I take back all the good things I said earlier, Max." said Ella, frowning. "You're still going out with Sam?"

"Max has a boyfriend?" said Gaz, taking a large bite of the cafeteria lasagna.

"Have you guys consummated your eternal devotion?" Everyone stared at Iggy with "WTF" looks written across their face for a moment.

"Is he cute?"

"Is Fang jealous?"

"How long have you guys been dating?"

"If you could have him or Fang who would you choose?"

"How old is he?"

"Is he as cute as Fang? Ow! Sorry, Nudge, but your brother's cute."

"Have you 69-ed?"

"You're disgusting, Iggy."

"What? 69ing is—."

"Who's 69ing?" asked Fang as he casually slid in, pulling a new girl onto his lap.

"Max and her boyfriend." Said Iggy smugly. Fang cocked an eyebrow at me.

"Really? Didn't take you for that kind of girl, Ride." I decided to just go with it.

"Well, you don't know me very well, do you?" I cocked an eyebrow back. Ella's mouth popped into a little "o".

"You and Sam—ugh!" I rolled my eyes and sent her a "we'll-talk-about-it-later" face.

Let's get a few things straight right now, though.

Sam and I had most defiantly never gotten further than second base.

Fang was playing with a new red-head's earlobe with his tongue.

Every time I saw him my knees got all weak.

I'm a total corndog.

Pretend I didn't say number 3.

"Some people are trying to eat here, Fang!"said Iggy, annoyed. The red-head giggled and pulled on his hand.

"C'mon, Fangy-poo! Let's get out of here to go somewhere…quieter." And they sideled off down a side hallway, probably in search of a deserted closet to do…yeah.

Everyone kind of looked at me as they left, but I just turned back to my phone.

Because I didn't care.

Because I had a boyfriend.

I didn't care.

Yeah, right.

**Sorry that one was so short and filler-y! the next one will be better, I promise!**

**And sent me a warning. I'm not allowed to do the character contest thing:( sorry guys. **


	7. Questionable Sexuality, Chem and Songs

**Yeah. I suck. **

**At 215, Max and Fang will have an…altercation:)**

**Here goes Chapter 7!**

_-Recap-_

_"C'mon, Fangy-poo! Let's get out of here to go somewhere…quieter." And they sideled off down a side hallway, probably in search of a deserted closet to do…yeah._

_Everyone kind of looked at me as they left, but I just turned back to my phone._

_Because I didn't care._

_Because I had a boyfriend._

_I didn't care._

_Yeah, right._

_-Recap end-_

**Chapter 7**

"Fangy-poo? _Really?_" scoffed Iggy and we waited for lunch to get over. "If I ever called him that, I'd get punched."

"If you ever called him Fangy-poo, we would question your sexuality." I pointed out bluntly.

Iggy shrugged and turned back to an in-depth conversation he was having with Ella, who was giving some blonde kid across the room goo-goo eyes. I turned to follow where her gaze had been, and saw…Dylan.

EW. TO THE MAXIMUM.

(Oh, the irony.)

Plus, she had Iggy now! I reminded myself to lecture her about playing two guys…and then remembered my little run-in with Fang yesterday. I didn't really have any room to talk.

The bell interrupted my guilty train of thought and I was herded the hallway by the wave of people leaving the cafeteria. Pulling my books out of my locker, I spun quickly and attempted to run down the hallway to my next class…

…and ran into a brick wall.

"Ouch! Jesus!" said the brick wall. Okay, brick walls don't talk. I glanced up into the dark eyes of none other than Fang.

FML.

"Oh, just the person I _wasn't_ looking for." He said acidly. I rolled my eyes.

"I see you managed to peel the human Band-Aid off for a minute. What's her name again? Helga?"

"It's Lissa, _Maximum_. At least her name isn't a porn stars slogan."

"At least I don't look like a porn star." I snapped, glaring at him. I could tell I was agitating him, but I didn't expect what was coming next.

"Well, at least she has _something._ You are nothing_._ _Nothing_. And you _never will be._ Do me a favor and stay out of my life." His face was close to mine as he whisper-shouted his rant into my ear. I was stung, but I tried to hide it as I glared right back.

"Do me a favor and go die a painful death." I said, and I spun on my heel and walked away, ignoring the stinging behind my eyes.

Sure, I had been insulted before. I had been called a freak, a loser, and much, much worse (rhymes with 'blunt'. Yeah, you get the idea.), but never, had I ever, been called _nothing. _

And it hurt more than all the other words ever had.

But, as hurried to my Chemistry class, I didn't let the tears slip down my face. You know why?

Because I'm Maximum Ride.

And _Maximum Ride_ DOES NOT CRY.

Even if she's nothing.

**X**

All I have to say is this:

Chemistry with Iggy is HELL.

Do you need further description? Basically, loud noises and obnoxious smells for fifty minutes straight. Mr. Appenitis, out teacher, seemed to have long since given up on actually _teaching _Iggy anything, so he pretty much just stood at the front of the classroom trying to lecture while Iggy blew things up in the background. I nearly kissed the ground outside the door when we were finally released, but stopped myself after seeing one of the classier students of ye old Chino Valley High spit a wad of chew out as he exited the Biology classroom across the hall from us.

Très _gross_.

ANYWAY, I was looking for my next class, World History, somewhat fruitlessly, when a familiar voice called out to me.

"Hey, sweetheart, you lost?" Oh, sweet baby Jesus, not right now.

"What do you have next?" _Make it go away, mommy._

"MAX! Are you having an episode or something?" that snapped me out of my all-too-hopeful reverie.

"Yeah, Dylan, I'm having and _episode, _whatever the hell that is. Better break out the smelling salts, 'cuz I'm also planning on swooning pretty soon." I rested my binder on my hip and raised my eyebrows combatively. He just grinned and slung an arm around my shoulders and peered at my schedule.

"You have World History next? Me too!" he beamed down at me while I shrugged off his arm.

"Oh, joy." I grimanced.

"Seeing your smile just brightens my day." he said sarcastically. I rolled my eyes.

"Seeing your smile makes me want to shoot myself in the foot."

"At least it's not the head! I'm making progress with you, sweetheart." He winked.

"Some progress."

"Hey, baby steps."

"Whatever."

"You're talkative today, huh?"

"I'm a fricken parrot."

"Nah, your voice is more husky and melodic than squawk-y." I rolled my eyes, but was secretly pleased. I wasn't 'nothing' to this guy. And my boyfriend, who I kept conveniently forgetting about.

"We're here!" said Dylan, grabbing my arm and guiding me into the classroom. "We can't sit by eachother in this class though." He said with a slight pout in his voice.

"Thank the Lord." I said dramatically.

"Wow! Love you too, sunshine!" he stuck out his bottom lip, and gave me these huge puppy0dog eyes, and I was suddenly struck by how incredibly blue his eyes were.

They were really, really blue.

Just to let you know.

For information purposes only.

They were a really, really pretty blue.

But, for some reason, my knees weren't melting, and that could be because of 1 of 2 reasons.

First of all, I'm fairly certain knees can't actually melt. And secondly, he was, I had to admit to myself, _extremely _attractive…but something was just…off. I didn't know what, nor why I thought this, I just got this…feeling.

Hm.

"Alright, class! Settle down! Today we are going to embark on a journey of learning!"

I pulled out my song journal and began to write.

_When I see you_

_My heart just stops_

_My hands are tied_

_My cage is locked_

_And you walk by_

_Oh, so unfazed_

_Because you don't care_

_While I'm set ablaze_

_I'm set ablaze, I'm set ablaze_

_There's fire in my veins_

_I'm set ablaze, when I see you_

_There's fire in my veins._

**This is short…again… and filler-y. but you gotta give them time to realize their feelings for one another! **

**And remember...215 reviews!**

**Byes:) **


	8. Creepers, Divas and Awkward Eye Contact

**_Okay, so I've had some people concerned about whether this is just going to be the typical Max breaks up with Sam, gets with Dylan, and realizes Fang is her one true love type story. I can assure you IT DEFINATLY WILL NOT BE. If you have read my other multi-chapter stories, especially All the Pretty I Can't See (Mortal Instruments Forum. Go check it out if you're a Clace fan!), you know that's not how I roll. Just because it's all human doesn't mean it's all boring!:)_**

**_On a different note, I sincerely apologize for my spelling and grammatical errors. I had to type the last chapter on my iPod, and…yeah. But I do need a beta, so…_**

**_BETA SEARCH!_**

**_Just put it in a review or PM me if you're interested. I'll go through your stories and such to see if you're any good._**

**_And for those of you confused, FanFiction no longer allows me to do the Review-Character thing. _**

**_And now, back to the story!_**

**X**

_-Recap-_

_"Alright, class! Settle down! Today we are going to embark on a journey of learning!"_

_I pulled out my song journal and began to write._

_When I see you _

_My heart just stops_

_My hands are tied_

_My cage is locked_

_And you walk by_

_Oh, so unfazed_

_Because you don't care_

_While I'm set ablaze_

_I'm set ablaze, I'm set ablaze_

_There's fire in my veins_

_I'm set ablaze, when I see you_

_There's fire in my veins._

_-Recap end-_

**Chapter 8**

Well, by the end of World History, I was almost wishing I had been sitting by Mr. Sunshine (aka Dylan, if you didn't catch that already).

Almost.

However, the creepy guy looking down my shirt on my right side and the diva who was crying on and off and after her boyfriend of three days and fourteen hours broke up with her over text on my left side were still _slightly _better than the confused knot I got whenever Dylan or Fang or Sam were involved.

Actually, I wasn't that confused about Sam.

Mostly just Dylan and Fang.

The only thing I was confused with about Sam was why I hadn't broken up with him yet.

Oh well. We had planned to go back and visit everyone in Kenmore a couple weeks after we moved, so I could do it then. Even though I didn't really think the Diva's hysterics were necessary, breaking up over text _is _classless.

After quietly threatening Creepy Shirt Looker and feeling slightly uncomfortable as Diva poured out her tragic life story to me ["And yesterday, (sniff) he didn't even _sit _by me(sniff) , and I just _knew_(sniff)something was up. I mean, I know (sniff) it'd only been (sniff) a couple days, but we (sniff) just had such (sniff) a connection!], bell finally rang.

Believe me when I say I couldn't get out of that room fast enough. I stumbled out, nearly running into a couple making out by the lockers. The two girls looked up, surprised as I nearly collided with their little tongue-fest.

"'Suse me, desperately trying to outrun the crushing boredom of that classroom." I said, backing up sheepishly. They rolled their eyes and smiled.

"Oh yeah! I had him my freshman year! Snooze fest!" said one of the girls. The other nodded along.

"Well, gotta run…far away. Ciao!" I said as I began quickly walking away before Dylan could intercept me.

Of course, as always, he did. "Hey, sweetheart, wait up!"

"Thanks for the warning. I have a head start." I said loudly, walking faster. _Auditorium, auditorium, where could you be? _

"Max! I know you're lost, and I know you have that special choir or whatever next, so just let me show you where it is." He said exasperatedly. I slowed my pace, slightly shocked.

Dylan…exasperated? With _me_? It was supposed to be the other way around!

"Fine. Show me." He looked down at me.

"This way." He said shortly. He didn't touch me, didn't try to talk, just walked silently beside me as he guided me through the corridors.

Finally, we approached a large set of double doors with the word "AUDITORIUM" spelled out in large letters above them, and under that, in smaller print, "Greg Goode".

I strode forward and reached out to pull one open, but a hand caught at my shoulder and spun me around.

"What?" I asked, annoyed. I had worked myself up to being pretty pissed at him for his icy treatment of me. "I have class, you know."

"Max." said Dylan, his (super blue) eyes wide and…vulnerable. "Why did you run away in the hall?"

I gave him an odd look. "You read my songbook. You now officially know _way _too much about me for us to be friends. Therefore, I am avoiding you. And it hasn't been easy, let me tell you." I spun towards the door, but he pulled me back again.

"So it wasn't because of those…those two girls..?" Wow. He wouldn't even let me go to my fricken class.

"What two girls? There are a lot of girls here, Dylan. If you're going to waste my time with this, you're going to have to be a little more specific!" I huffed impatiently.

"So you didn't run because you saw those two girls…making out?" Seriously, that's what this was about?

"No, Dylan. I'm not some sort of homophobic caveman. My best friend at home is bi. Why does it matter?" A look of…relief played across his features. I just rolled my eyes. "Now if you're done asking stupid questions, I'd like to go to class."

I turned and was actually able to open a door without him interfering before I heard his voice call out after me. "Hey Max! I think we could be friends. There's still a lot of stuff I don't know!"

I couldn't think of a witty comeback, so I just ignored him and let the door fall softly shut between us.

**X**

I entered the room quietly. I was late for class, I knew that much, and I didn't want to upset yet another instructor. I glanced around, and saw that everyone was sitting in a rough semi-circle. I was in the most advanced choir at my old school, so they put me in the advanced one at this school too. This class had about the same number of kids as my old one, roughly fifteen, but this one had a lot more boys.

"Hey!" a voice whispered. "I'm Maya! Sit down next to me. Solo Review Practice is just about to start!" she looked up at me with chocolate brown eyes, twirling candy-pink hair around her left pointer finger.

"I'm Max. What are Solo Reviews?" she grinned.

"You'll see. Just watch and listen." I plopped down, criss-cross-applesauce-style next to her just as the first performer walker out onto the stage holing a guitar.

"Hi, I'm Fang," _Oh, shit_. I looked up, right into those dark eyes I may or may not have been day-dreaming about, and he seemed to be looking right back into my muddy brown ones. "and I'm going to be singing 'Why' by Secondhand Serenade. I chose to do this because it's my favorite song and I think it applies to everyone sometimes." Yeah, he was defiantly looking at me.

I may swoon.

Where's Dylan and his smelling salts when you need him?

As he played the simple intro, I closed my eyes, letting myself be carried away by the music.

Because _of course_ it was my favorite song too.

**_Sorry, you guys didn't get up to 215!:/ Oh well. _**

**_So, once we get up to…oh…240 Max and Fang will have a little conversation…what is that? Some wild FAX on the horizon?! I don't know, it's up to YOU now!_**

**_And, to answer a review, unless I give credit (like in this chapter) all the songs are written by moi. _**

**_Oh, and listen to "Why". It's seriously the most beautiful song in the world._**


	9. Solos, Guitars and a Pool of Tears

**_So, once we get up to…oh…300, Max and Fang will have a little conversation…what is that? Some wild FAX on the horizon?! I don't know, it's up to YOU now!_**

**_And, to answer a review, unless I give credit (like in this chapter) all the songs are written by moi. _**

**_Oh, and listen to "Why". It's seriously the most beautiful song in the world._**

**_X_**

_-Recap-_

_"Hi, I'm Fang," Oh, shit. I looked up, right into those dark eyes I may or may not have been day-dreaming about, and he seemed to be looking right back into my muddy brown ones. "and I'm going to be singing 'Why' by Secondhand Serenade. I chose to do this because it's my favorite song and I think it applies to everyone sometimes." Yeah, he was defiantly looking at me._

_I may swoon._

_Where's Dylan and his smelling salts when you need him? _

_As he played the simple intro, I closed my eyes, letting myself be carried away by the music._

_Because of course it was my favorite song too_

_-End recap-_

**_X_**

_The buttons on my phone are worn thin_

_I don't think that I knew the chaos I was getting in_

Oh lord, his voice was like honey, sweet and husky and a little breathy and just…ugh. He was perfect.

_But I've broken all my promises to you_

_I've broken all my promises to you_

Nobody should sound that good without auto tune.

_Why do you do this to me?_

No, why do you do this to ME?

_Why do you do this so easily?_

_You make it hard to smile because_

_You make it hard to breathe_

_Why do you do this to me_?

_To me…_

He ran up and down the last scale of the chorus slightly different than the original, but it's hard to perfect a Secondhand Serenade song. He still sounded like an angel, though.

_A frozen glance, a single tear _

_It's harder than I ever feared _

_And you were left feeling so alone_

Fang and I seemed to be trading a LOT of frozen glances lately…and I did feel kind of alone, what with being lost in his dark eyes and such.

_But these days aren't easy like they have been once before_

_These days aren't easy anymore_

No, it wasn't easy…trying to hold myself back from jumping up on the stage and mauling him.

_Why do you do this to me?_

_Why do you do this so easily?_

Why did I feel so out of control right now? All I could think about was this morning, with his lips hotly pressed against mine.

_You make it hard to smile because_

_You make it hard to breathe_

_Why do you do this to me?_

_To me, to me, to me…_

Yes, defiantly having some breathing issues right now.

_I should have known this wasn't real_

This part of the song was louder and stronger, and oh God, his voice sounded even better when the notes were a little strained.

_And I fought it off_

Been there, bro. I feel ya. Trying to fight off some feelings currently, actually.

_And fought to feel what matters most_

_Everything that you feel while listening _

_To every word that I sing_

_I promise you_

_I will bring you home, I will bring you home_

His voice broke a little here, and even though I know it's how the song is sung and it wasn't real, my insides felt all weird and tender, almost like I felt sorry for him or something.

Because nobody should have to love somebody that much.

_Why do you do this to me?_

_Why do you do this so easily?_

_You make it hard to smile because_

_You make it hard to breathe_

_Why do you do this to me?_

_To me, to me, to me…_

He ended without guitar accompaniment, just his solo voice. After he was finished, the room was completely silent for about 4 seconds. Then, one person started to clap, and soon everyone joined in. I saw some of the, I'm assuming, more dramatic members of our class wiping away tears and sniffling to each other about their boyfriends.

To me, though, that song isn't about love. It's about some poor guy that gets lead on and used because he's so in love he can see he's being used and doesn't even care. That's not real love. That's love that will eventually turn into the worst kind of hate.

I rolled my eyes, and my new friend Maya turned to me, I'm assuming to make a comment about Fang's performance, but before I could say how good it was, she gave me an odd look and reached out her hand to touch my face.

"Max, you're crying."

**X**

I am officially the biggest girl alive. Because after Maya pointed out that sad fact, I pretty much had a breakdown in the arms of a person I had met roughly 7 minutes ago. My throat clogged up and my eyes squeezed shut as she hauled me out of the classroom and deposited me in the hallway, seeming more that a little baffled as to what to say to me. After a few stumbling attempts, she gave up, leaving me there by myself to "Come inside when I was ready."

I know this may be a little hard to believe due to my current situation, but I'm really not a big crier. I cried when I shattered my left femur. I cried when my grandma died. I cried during the last episode of _House._ That pretty much sums up how much I've cried in the last decade or so. So believe me, sobbing my eyes out for no apparent reason was a new experience. One I wasn't really enjoying, might I add. After a few watery minutes, my seemingly endless supply of tears dried up, and I sat in a hiccupping daze on the floor wondering why the hell I was sitting in a hiccupping daze.

Moving stress? Doubtful.

Frustration? Probably not…

Heartbreak? Over what? I met Fang about 72 hours ago.

A moving song? Ha. Ha.

I would have gone on listing all the things that weren't wrong with me, but my thoughts were interrupted by a door softly shutting and somebody sitting down next to me.

"Hey." Oh, hey there, Fang. Don't mind me, I'm just sitting in a puddle of my tears.

"Hi." I said weakly. Gotta love that rough, mucus voice you get after a good sob.

"How are you doing?"

"Fucking fantastic, genius." He chuckled and flung an arm around my shoulders…and I didn't pull away.

Yeah, I know. I should have, but I didn't.

"Are you ready to go back in and face the masses, then?" I snorked back some snot (gorgeous, I know) and nodded. He stood up and pulled me to my feet, and we went back into the classroom.

**_X_**

**_So, um…yeah. It's been like…_**

**_…well, a long time. _**

**_Sorry…:( Sophomore year is kicking my ass. 9 classes, 2 sports, three clubs…Lord help me!_**

**_ANYWAY…the next time I write I will probably be heavily drugged on prescription-strength painkillers (oxycodone, anyone?) so things might be a little weird….:) _**

**_Oh yeah, 350 reviews and you guys get a surprise! (coughREALFAXcough) _**


	10. Bugster, Counting and Making out

**_Hola. This might be short, this might be long. All I know is…it will be grand! _**

**_Ha. I'm a dork. And I'm on Oxycotton!_**

**_Anyway….recap!_**

**_X_**

_-Recap-_

****_I would have gone on listing all the things that weren't wrong with me, but my thoughts were interrupted by a door softly shutting and somebody sitting down next to me. _

_"Hey." Oh, hey there, Fang. Don't mind me, I'm just sitting in a puddle of my tears._

_"Hi." I said weakly. Gotta love that rough, mucus voice you get after a good sob._

_"How are you doing?"_

_"Fucking fantastic, genius." He chuckled and flung an arm around my shoulders…and I didn't pull away._

_Yeah, I know. I should have, but I didn't. _

_"Are you ready to go back in and face the masses, then?" I snorked back some snot (gorgeous, I know) and nodded. He stood up and pulled me to my feet_

_ -End Recap-_

**_X_**

"Max! Max! Come here!" Ella shouted at me from across the parking lot. I had just gotten out of Grace notes, my 7th period choir class, and was juggling a mixture of sheet music, Chemistry notes and an English lecture while slowly dribbling the soccer ball at my feet. We had been in Chino Valley for about a month and a half, and I had made the varsity soccer team. I was headed to Fang's car to stick all my school stuff in, and then I would go change for practice. Ella was seated on the hood of the Bugster, as we had taken to calling Iggy's car. She was wearing some peachy-colored short-shorts and a flowy white belly shirt that showed off her newly acquired tan. It wasn't hard to see why she had Iggy panting after her looking like _that_.

"What?" I said as I reached Fang's car, which was parked next to Iggy's, and hefted open the door. Fang and I, despite the rocky start to our friendship, had grown very close over the last six weeks. He was on the boys' soccer team, and he gave me a ride home after practice, since we lived about 20 feet away from each other. Fang appeared behind me and gave me a quick hug as a greeting. I quickly quelled the butterflies that still appeared in my stomach every time we touched, and leaned against Fangs truck.

"Fang and I have something to tell you!" she beamed excitedly.

"You're pregnant and he's your baby daddy?" she gave me an odd look.

"Um, no? Anyway, you're not doing anything for your birthday this weekend, right?"

"Do I ever?"

"No, which is why I planned something for you this year! We got it all cleared with mom, Fang and Iggy can drive, and it's Christmas break! It's perfect!" she was practically bouncing with excitement now.

"Sounds great and all but what is "it", specifically?"

"We're going on a road trip home!"

**X**

Friday night, all of my things were packed and I was laying in bed, staring at my ceiling decorated with glow-in-the-dark stars. I had forgotten they were there when we had moved back in, but one night I had chanced a look up and seen the eighteen stars on the ceiling. According to my mom, my dad had put them up when I was really little to symbolize the 18 years I was going to live in this house. Obviously, that didn't happen. Sometimes I tried to imagine my dad doing something fatherly like that. All I knew about him were the few meager snippets my mom shared with us. He had left her right around when Ella was born and my only maybe-memory of him was a fuzzy outline of a man painting something, maybe a child's toy, yellow. I wasn't sure if this was truly a memory, though. When I was younger I used to imagine my dad was still with my family and would make up all these scenarios in my head where he actually cared about me, and this could just be the product of something imagined over and over.

I was startled out of my reverie by a light tapping on my window. I flipped over in bed to see Fang arced across the gap between our two houses, tapping on my window with his toenail I smiled to myself as I slipped out of bed and padded across the hardwood floor to crack my window open.

"Can I help you?"

"If you don't let me in in two seconds I'm going to fall."

"One one thouuuuuuusand, two one thouuuuu—."

"I'm going to kill you, Max." I laughed and slid my window all the way open so Fang could tumble inside; he had taken to coming over a couple of times a week. Mostly we would just sit on my bed and talk, sometimes he would help me with math I didn't understand, and sometimes we would just lay next to each other on my windowsill, hang our heads out the window and look up at the stars without saying a word.

He was only wearing basketball shorts, leaving his bare, and suddenly I was very acutely aware of the fact that I was in a sports bra and booty shorts that I usually only wore as a swim suit cover up. Not that we hadn't seen each other's bodies before—we went sprinkler-ing nearly every weekend—but for some reason tonight felt different. My hair was up in a messy bun, which I nervously re-adjusted as he sat down next to me on the windowsill. Cool night air wafted in and tickled my back, and I shivered, more out of nerves and my inner sexual tension (yes, I said it) than anything else.

"Cold?" he raised his eyebrows. I shook my head, but he slid his arm around me anyway. I leaned into his bare chest. (Bad Max. You still have a boyfriend.) His skin was a kind of damp and fragrant from his shower earlier. He smelled like soap and boy deodorant, which doesn't sound that great but, believe me, on him it was the best thing in the world.

Okay, that whole paragraph was defiantly NOT something a friend would say.

Anyway, while I was thinking this, his arm dropped from my shoulders to my waist, and he began rubbing small circles on my stomach with his thumb. I should have pulled away. I should have. But you know what I did instead?

I twined my arms around him and leaned into him even more. He set his chin on the top of my head and captured one of my hands in his own…

…whoa. Friends don't hold hands.

I still didn't pull away.

"Max?" he said after a long moment.

"Uh huh?"

"Do you even like Sam?"

I hesitated.

"…No." His arm tightened around me.

"Then why are you with him?" A valid question.

"Because…I'm going to break up with him. This weekend." His arm got even tighter around me so I was practically sitting in his lap, and little veins of fire were snaking up inside me. I felt him smile as he buried his face in my neck.

"Good." His eyelashes stroked my shoulder and I leaned my head back so my cheek was on his cheek. His brown eyes slid over and caught the gaze of mine, and we just looked at each other for a moment. Then he quickly turned his head and captured my lips in his. I was so surprised I actually gasped into his mouth, but then I quickly regained my composure and kissed him back as he pulled me all the way into his lap and I twined my fingers through his slightly damp hair. Little fireworks were still going through my brain as he pulled away and looked down at me.

"Was… was that okay?" he asked, his voice shaking a little. I smiled up at him.

"Uh huh."

He leaned in more slowly him time, and I could feel his breath caress my cheek before his lips connected with mine and his tongue lightly traced my lower lip. This was nothing like the wild, frenzied kiss in the parking lot that I had dreamed about every night for six weeks. This kiss was sweet and slow and passionate, but I could feel him holding back.

And I didn't want him to hold back. Not at all. Because I was sick of holding back from the person that I was completely, 100 percent, totally in love with.

Yup. You heard me. I was in love with Fang.

I flipped my body so I was straddling him, hoping that this would alert him that I wanted more. It seemed to work, and as I felt him smile against my mouth he hooked his arms behind under me and picked me up, still kissing me, and carried me over to my bed, were he set me down and rolled on top of me, our legs getting tangled and our chests pressed together. I hooked my leg behind his hip as he traced my sides with his hands, teasing the edge of my sports bra with his thumb.

This boy did wonders to me. Dear lord. He was driving me crazy. He feathered kisses away from my lips and down my neck and across my collarbone. He looked up at me, as if asking for permission, and I nodded. The sports bra was off in one deft move and he was back to kissing every inch of my face.

He didn't touch me other than around my waist and face. After a few more minutes of our make-out session, we bother began to get lazy with our kisses and eventually stopped. He curled his body against mine, our bare chests pressed together, and just before I dozed off, he leaned in and whispered, very quietly, "Goodnight, Max."

"Goodnight, Fang."

**_BAM! How do ya like THEM apples!?_**

**_350 reviews and you'll get some more good stuff!_**

**_You love me when I'm on oxycotton, don't you?:)_**


	11. Chapter 10 and a Half

**_Yo._**

**_I don't really have too much to tell you guys at the moment, so…_**

_-Recap-_

_He didn't touch me other than around my waist and face. After a few more minutes of our make-out session, we bother began to get lazy with our kisses and eventually stopped. He curled his body against mine, our bare chests pressed together, and just before I dozed off, he leaned in and whispered, very quietly, "Goodnight, Max."_

_"Goodnight, Fang." _

_-End Recap-_

Waking up next to an extremely hot guy is something I had never experienced before, and still had yet to experience the next morning.

Just in case you guys didn't catch that, Fang was gone. I rolled over, my eyes settling on the cool indent where his body had been mere hours before. The only sign Fang had been here was the covers pushed back and a necklace left carefully place on the pillow. It was made of tough leather cord and had two intertwined ebony-colored rings dangling off of it with markings etched on the inside of the bands. I had seen Fang wear it before, but never really taken note of just how intricate the designs really were. I picked it up and turned it over in my hand, studying the strangely familiar markings before slipping it over my head, pulling on a shirt, and padding over my windowsill to peer across the gap to Fang's room. Seeing no signs of life, I gracefully launched myself through his still-open window to explore the now obviously deserted room.

It was neat, like it always was, with his bed made hospital-style and his floor startlingly white against the otherwise dark-toned room. The laptop on his desk was folded down, and his schoolbooks were carefully arranged on his bedside table like he had been doing homework recently, which I thought was strange. Normal kids wait until the last weekend of Christmas break to do homework. Fang might be organized, but that didn't mean he wasn't a procrastinator. I had recently observed him writing an entire five page essay on the historical similarities between the rule of Emperor Kangxi and Henry IV three periods before it was due on his iPhone.

There was a small duffel bag in the corner, holding what I assumed was either his soccer stuff or what he had packed for this weekend's trip. Without even thinking, I reached over and partially unzipped it, the contents peeking out at me. Something yellow was on top. What? Fang _never _wore yellow. I opened it the rest of the way, and the contents spilled out onto the floor. A yellow windbreaker, a pair of jeans, some boxers and a wife beater were the only clothes in the bag. There was a pay-as-you-go cell phone, still in the package, a toolbox of some sort, some kind of freaky-looking walkie-talkie thing, and…

…A gun.

I gasped, but before I could recover myself I heard footsteps in the hall. I quickly shoved all the contents back into the bag, zipped it up, and thrust myself into Fang's closet, the nearest hiding spot I could find.

I peeked out the crack between where the door met the frame, and watched as Fang thrust open his bedroom door, looking more stressed than I'd ever seen him. He was dressed in a black hoodie and dark jeans, similar to his usual attire, the only oddity of his get-up being gloves with funny-looking pads on the fingers. He paused for a moment, looking out his open window and into my room, before grabbing his duffel bag and leaving without a backwards glance.

I stayed in his closet for a long moment before sprinting to my window, jumping across the gap back into my room and slamming the glass pane shut.

I sat on the floor, my breath heaving, as I tried to comprehend what I had just seen.

…A gun?

**_Mini chapter! All the more suspense, ya?_**

**_Let's get to 375 reviews! If we get over 40 reviews for this chapter, I'll give you guys a sercet!_**


	12. Snacks, Saftly Gear and the Secretly Gay

**52 reviews! You guys rock! So, because of that…**

**A) ****I'm giving you a secret, and…**

**B) ****I'm giving you guys a contest!:)**

**So, basically the contest is this:**

**Whoever has reviewed my story the most by the time it is over will get to appear as a major character in my NEXT story. :D **

**I already have some pretty cool plots in the works.**

**Rules:**

**1) ****You must be signed in when you review.**

**2) ****That's basically it…**

**And now for the story!:)**

X

_-Recap-_

_I stayed in his closet for a long moment before sprinting to my window and jumping across the gap back into my room and slamming the glass pane shut. _

_I sat on the floor, my breath heaving, as I tried to comprehend what I had just seen._

_…A gun?_

-_End Recap-_

X

"Where's Fang?" I asked lightly as I climbed into the giant nineteen sixty-something generation 2 Volkswagen Kombi. The car was probably older that all of the people in it with their ages combined (Iggy, Ella, Nudge, Gazzy, and now me.)

Iggy shifted in the driver's seat. "He, uh, couldn't make it. He's gonna catch up with us in Boise." Was it just me, or did he sound uncomfortable?

"Why?" Is he, oh, I don't know, assassinating someone?

"Eh. He's got some stuff to do, I guess. Anyway, we should probably get this show on the road. Three day drive, ya know?"Clearly, Iggy was hiding something, but I didn't want to find out what in front of all of these people, because even though I was scared and confused and completely freaked out, I still really cared about Fang and didn't want to get him in trouble.

Even if he was carrying a gun.

"Alright, we're staying at the Bush Street Bed and Breakfast tonight in Carlin, Nevada, so we gotta make some big miles today. Ells, can you plug that into the GPS? 124 Bush Street…yeah, press Nevada now…um, I don't know the area code, can you…oh wait, okay, cool." I watched in deep thought as Ella, who got shotgun, and Iggy, fumbled with the GPS thing before attaching to an air vent on faded grey dashboard.

Iggy turned around and whipped out a list.

"Snacks?"

"Check!" yelled Nudge, who had been put in charge of packing necessities (food, water, chains for when there was snow, ect.)

"Safety gear?"

"Check!" said Nudge again.

"Warm clothes?"

"Check!" we all chorused.

"Entertainment for the drive?"

"Check!" we chorused again.

"Extra underwear?"

"Check!" said Gazzy. We all looked at him strangly.

"What? Prepare for the worst!"

"Money?"

"Check!" said Nudge, pulling out a pre-paided card.

"How much?" Iggy questioned.

"Well, I figured, since out trip is gonna be a week long, and we're spending Christmas there, and all our hotels are paid for, and we each have 500 dollars of spending money, and—,"

"Just tell us how much, Nudgy."

"Five thousand. But Dad wants the change. He said better safe than sorry, though."

"Cool. Christmas presents?"

"Check!" Everyone said excitedly. Christmas was falling on a Tuesday this year, the first day we would be in Kenmore, and everyone was excited about giving each other gifts. My mom, Ella and I were going to have a fake Christmas after we got back (i.e. dinner, Christmas movies and presents from mom). The schedule that Iggy had given to us made our day look something like this:

**Schedule for Max's Birthday Trip**

_By Iggy Walker and kind of Nudge too._

**_Day 1:_**

9:00- Leave

9:02- Stop at the grocery store to buy all the junk food mom wouldn't let us bring.

9:05- Regroup and actually leave.

11:00- Bathroom break in Bullhead City, buy lunch.

12:30- Eat lunch in car.

3:00- Bathroom break in Lund. Buy dinner.

5:00- Eat dinner in car.

9:00: Arrive in Carlin, check in, _sleep._

And that was only day 1. The whole trip was planned out by Iggy and "kind of Nudge too" in a 5 page itinerary that had been handed to us as we got in the Bus, as the car was lovingly refered to by the Walker siblings (i.e. Nudge, Iggy and Fang). For the millionth time that morning, I wondered…well, I wasn't sure exactly _what _I was wondering. Fang was defiantly involved, along with the gun and the yellow windbreaker and general oddness of the whole experience. I wasn't going to pretend it hadn't happened. In fact, I planned to confront Fang about it as soon as the time was right. However, I really wanted this trip and didn't want to ruin it for the others.

As we pulled away from the curb, I shot a quick text to Sam, who I was, in fact, still dating.

**Hey. We're leaving right now. See ya in a few days.**

He replied immediately.

**_Can't wait to see you babe! About when do you think you're going to get here?:)_**

Guilt pulled at my stomach because of what I had done with Fang last night…Dylan was so excited to see me, and I honestly hadn't even missed him.

**About six o'clock Monday night. Meet you at your house? **

I was going to break up with him then.

**_Cool:) See you then, babe3_**

I couldn't bring myself to reply, and when I was just about to shut my phone off, I vinrated in my hand.

hey!

Oh, Dylan.

**Hi.**

What's up?

**Not much just driving. We're going on a road trip.**

Dylan, despite his annoying-ness and general overly happy attitude, was now one of my closest friends. We had grown a lot closer, especially since we shared nearly every class.

No way! Me too! Where ya going?

**My hometown. You?**

Visiting an—um—friend, I guess you could say.

**Oh cool. Where's your friend live.**

Kenmore, Washington. Driving there with my sister. My aunt lives there too.

What!? Seriously!? This was the biggest coincidence of all time!

**Are you kidding me!? That's where I'm going too! Who's your friend? I might know him!**

Omega Jameson

No. Nononononono. That was sooooo not possible.

**THAT'S MY BEST FRIEND!OMFG I CAN'T BEIVE YOU KNOW HIM,**

Wait. Something was bothering me, something I knew. Dylan was kind of unsure about his status with Omega, or at least that was what it sounded like to me, and Omega was…

You'd be surprised…. I met him a last year when I was visiting my aunt.

**Yeah he's so great!**

I know

Was it just me or did Dylan sound slightly less enthusiastic?

Listen I gtg. Ttyl.

Dylan ended our conversation abruptly, before I had a chance to text back. I sat back in my seat, wondering what was wrong with him, and then….

…the pieces clicked together.

"Visiting a—um—friend, I guess you could say."

"So you didn't run because you saw those two girls…making out?"

The way something was always off about him.

The look of relief when he found out I wasn't a homophobe.

The way, even though he was one of the most attractive guys at school, he never had a girlfriend.

The way I had _seen this happen before. _

Yeha, I had seen it. With my very best friend in the whole world, Omega.

Who was _bisexual._

Who was Dylan's 'friend'.

Ohhhhhhh man…

**So ya, there's your secret. I'm gonna wait 'till next chappy to bring Fang back, and then we'll get some REAL good dirt…**

**Don't forget about the contest!**

**Take me to 450 reviews and Max will begin to uncover the "Fang mystery"!**


	13. Very Important Authors note

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:**

Ooooookay then…

So I went through all of your reviews (yeah, that's right, all four hundred and some), and came up with this:

HeadOverHeelsInHate-12

Shadow Child217-11

Kooky109-8

BraveFlight-7

FancyPenguin-6

Those are the top five people with the most reviews! (Thank you, HeadOverHeelsInHate, for reviewing every single chapter:))

**REMEMBER: The person with the most reviews with get to APEAR AS A CHARACTER IN MY NEXT STORY.**

**My next point:**

**_I NEED YOU GUYS TO VOTE ON WHAT YOU THINK I SHOULD DO FOR MY NEXT STORY._**

**Option 1:**Max is a native to the Island. Fang is a 'Townie' who spends his summers on the island. Sparks my fly between them during the summer, but will their fling develop into something more or be washed away by the waves?

**Option 2:**Max, and her friends Nudge and Iggy, have been putting videos on YouTube of her singing for years. When she is signed by a record company, however, she is forced to make a choice between true friends and true love.

**Option 3:**Max grew 4 inches, got some curves and got some confidence over the summer. Now she's back at school, and with the help of her three best friends, Nudge, Iggy and Fang, she might be able to finally get the guy of her dreams, Dylan. However, as switches herself completely around to fit his type, she may find that what she's been looking for has been there all along.

**Leave a review and say which option (1, 2 or 3) I should do for my next story, which one of YOU will be appearing in!**


	14. 20 degrees, dresses and finding Fang

_-Recap-_

_The way I had seen this happen before. _

_Yeha, I had seen it. With my very best friend in the whole world, Omega. _

_Who was bisexual._

_Who was Dylan's 'friend'._

_Ohhhhhhh man…_

_-Recap end-_

**X**

The Bush Street Bed and Breakfast was a quaint pink Victorian-style house with white trim and a small herd of children under the age of 7 playing in the snow-covered yard. We had made very good time, and had actually gotten to the (tiny) town of Carlin, Nevada, by about 7:00. Then again, it wasn't hard to make good time when the road was completely strait for about three hundred miles.

As we pulled up to the curb, Nudge tugged her ear buds out, Gazzy set down the comic book he had been reading, Iggy shook Ella awake and I stuffed my song journal into the messenger bag Ella had gotten me for an early birthday present. I liked it a lot, which was surprising since I wasn't much on clothing and style. It had a faded interpretation of the British flag on the front, and it lots of pockets and places to put things on the inside.

We had been in the stuffy car all day, so our clothing had come off in layers. When we had left Chino Valley, it had been 34 degrees and about to snow (contrary to popular believe, Arizona isn't _always _warm), so we had been bundled up in sweatshirts and Ugg boots and such, except for Gazzy, who seemed not to feel cold, ever. He was parading around in jeans, a tight white tee shirt and flip flops before we left. Now everyone in the car was stripped down to shorts, me in a cropped tee shirt and flip slops on top of that** (on profile)**, but that was only because the Bus, with five people and seemingly no air conditioning, was at about 85 degrees inside. According to Iggy's phone and the new snow on the ground, Carlin was very, _very_ cold.

"Alright, people. Its twenty degrees out there, se either put some clothes on or turn into a human ice cube. I'm looking at you, Ella and Max."

Ella was clothed in a One Direction band tee shirt, white shorts and Toms **(outfit on profile)**. She reached under her seat and pulled out a big puffy jacket and slipped on the sweats. I contemplated going the same, but decided to just be a human ice cube for a few minutes because I was too lazy to change. "Does everybody have their stuff gathered?"

Gazzy and Nudge, who were in the second row, brandished their backpacks, which had P.J.s and a change of clothes for tomorrow in them, plus toiletries and such. We all had packed suitcases (Or trash bags, in the case of Iggy and Gazzy), but it was easier to just take what we needed out of our suitcase and stick it in a backpack rather than transport the whole operation into whatever hotel we were staying every morning and every night.

I waved my backpack in the air and shifted the chains, explosives, tools and various other things that Iggy had deemed "not edible but still necessary" out of my way so I could open the door. The Bus was organized into 4 sections; the front, where Ella and Iggy were sitting, was storage for maps, water and fake parking tickets (Ya know, just in case we needed to park somewhere for a while and didn't want to have to pay a fine.) The second section was the first row of seats, where Nudge and Gazzy were sitting, was storage for meals, snacks and money, because A) It was in the middle of the 3 seating areas, so it was easy for us all to access, and B) Iggy knew Nudge wouldn't eat the food, and Gazzy was too afraid of Nudge to try to steal a Ho-Ho. I already stated what was stored where I, and when he decided to join us, Fang, was sitting, and the trunk was used for luggage. It was a pretty packed car.

We all made a mad dash for the B&B, my flip-flips skidding across the icy ground. The multitude of children in the yard stared at use with wide blue eyes. I guess we must have been a pretty interest sight; 4 normal kids and one marshmallow (Ella) sprinting from an ancient Scooby-doo-esk van to an even more ancient pink house.

We were greeted in the foyer of the B&B by a tiny old woman who showed us to our rooms on the top floor. I was sincerely terrified a few times when she was hobbling along in front of us that she was going to tip over or something, because she seemed to have a tendency to lean precariously to the right. However, she made it up, handed us the keys to our rooms, and warned us that we were "too young to be workin' up any shenanigans in her house" and that the boys and girls had better stay in separate rooms, or "I'll throw y'all out into the God-fearin' street, ya hear?"

All in all, she was tougher than she looked. It wasn't really a high bar, though, when you looked like you were going to spontaneously…die, I guess. She belonged on a Life Alert commercial, or wherever they do that "I've fallen and I can't get up." thing.

Anyway, Ella, Nudge and I threw our stuff on the floor and proceeded to get ready for bed. I changed into my pajamas while Ella took off her makeup and Nudge brushed her teeth. I flopped down onto the floor and waited for them to get out of the tiny bathroom so I could use it.

The room only had two beds, but there was a funky-looking couch in the corner that seemed to have been designed in the sixties of something, so I figured I'd just sleep there. I pulled out my battered song journal and began to write.

_You gotta stand up straight_

_And forget about me _

_Yeah we are over_

_Don't you see?_

_We're surrounded by the wreckage_

_Written on your face_

_And we're covered in the feathers _

_Of your saving grace_

_Your broken will is on the ground _

_Oh angel boy, come on now_

"Max! We're done!"Nudge's voice interrupted my song. I snapped my journal shut and went to wash up and get ready for bed.

X

We were all bedded down for the night. Nudge and Ells were in the two beds, and I was on the couch that not only looked funky, but smelled funky too. Iggy had just come by to inform us that we had to be up by seven in the morning so lights had to be out in 5 minutes. I wanted to at least write the chorus to my song before I went to bed, though, but my mind was already on new lyrics, so I opened my journal to a blank page and hastily scribbled a few lines down.

_You're a caged butterfly_

_You're a wall painted white_

_You're a song that has yet to be sung_

_You're the words we don't say _

_And the hope that today_

_Will take our breaths away_

_(chorus)_

_Yeah I don't know when_

_You snuck in _

_And cut off my oxygen_

_Yeah it feels like a sin_

_But I still want your loving _

_When you cut off my oxygen_

And with that, I turned off my light and went to sleep, plagued with dreams of Fang, guns, and parking tickets.

X

**Schedule for Max's Birthday Trip**

_By Iggy Walker and kind of Nudge too._

**_Day 2_**

7:00- Wake up (that means you too, Gazzy).

7:30- Leave B&B, find somewhere to eat, refuel.

8:00-Leave Carlin.

12:00- Eat lunch in car.

2:00- Arrive in Boise. Go to mall for 2 hours, and only 2, NUDGE.

4:00- Pick up Fang and dinner. Leave Boise.

7:30- Stop in Pendleton. Eat at the Pendleton Cheese Factory.

9:00- Check into Rodeway Inn. (Swimming, anyone?)

10:30- Sleep.

Currently we were at the mall in Boise. I was chowing down on some cheap Chinese food, and Nudge was begging me to go dress shopping for Winter Formal with her. I finally relented, and she and Ella dragged me to the nearest dress shop. I wasn't completely opposed to dresses; they looked nice on some people. Just _not on me. _I was too tall for a short dress and didn't have the curves to pull off a long one, and plus, you generally had to look nice all around when wearing a dress and I was too lazy for that. But whatever. I would let Ella and Nudge have their fun.

Ella had already picked out a strapless powder pink dress with a "corset top", according Nudge, and oversized rhinestones on the upper half. She twirled in it happily. "I like it, Nudgy!" **(Pic on profile)**

Nudge pulled out the debt card with a devilish look in her eye. "Merry Christmas to us!" she sang, and flicked through racks of clothing. She pulled out a floor-length orange dress, but that was all I could see of it before she dashed to the last available fitting room. The store was teeming with girls about our age looking for Winter Formal dresses. I remembered, in Kenmore, we didn't have a Winter Formal. We had a Christmas Dance the 24th of December. It wasn't school sponsored, but everyone went anyway. We always had it and the Community Center, and whoever put it on had always decorated it with frosty blue and white sparkles and fake snow and there were bubble machines sometimes, too.

Nudge emerged from the dressing room in the orange gown. Its one shoulder strap was sparkly, and the top part was fitted. She spun around in it, looking pleased with herself.** (on profile) **

"Oh my gosh you HAVE to get that one!" gushed Ella.

"Oh my God, like, totally!" I said with my best Valley Girl voice. Nudge smirked at me.

"Come on, Miss Man, you gotta get one too!"

"Miss Man!?" I said, faking insult. "Okay, show me some."

Nudge pulled out a _very _fitted silver dress.

"Um, probably _not_," I told her. "I'm no nun, but I like to leave a _little _to the imagination."

She pulled out a few more, but I didn't like any of them.

"No, no, _definitely _no, no, I look funny in yellow, so no…"

"Oh my gosh…" said Nudge dramatically, from behind a rack of dresses. "This is the one! You're going to look like a princess!"

"My dream will finally come true." I said dryly. Nudge rolled her eyes.

"Just go try it on, dork." She shoved me into a dressing room and hung a dress on the door before slamming it shut.

I wiggled into the dress and looked in the mirror. It was an aquamarine floor-length gown with a million tiny pleats in the skirt part. The part on my chest was fitted and covered in sparkly rhinestones, and it fell in graceful waves to the floor, giving the illusion that I had hips and a chest, too. **(on profile)**

Okay, I kind of liked it.

I stepped out of the dressing room, gained approval from Nudge ("Oh my gosh! I'm so good at picking out other peoples clothes!"), and then changed out of the dress back into my jeans, long-sleeve thermal shirt and puffer vest. By the time I left the dressing room Nudge and Ella had already bought all three dresses and were waiting impatiently for me. As we exited the store, I could have swore I saw a shadow slip behind a wall, but before I could get a closer look, I ran into a broad chest.

Fang.

**All the girls dresses are listed as Kenmore Winter Dance on my profile, you'll see why soon:) Also, there is a link to pictures of what Max found in Fang's room on my profile too! Yeah…**

**I know I said that Fang and Max would have their altercation, but you guys got to 450 a lot faster than I thought you would, so that's gonna have to wait until next chapter! I promise it will happen!**

**Don't forget about the review contest!:D**

**Ciao! **

**P.S. all songs in this chappy are mine.**


	15. MIB3, Pools and Punching

**Mucho action in this chapter, so be ready! And the new cover for this story, that I'm sure you ALL notices, was designed by I Was Divided By Zero. She writes lovely Max Ride stories, too! There's a link to her profile and website on my profile, if you wanna check her out!**

X

_-Recap-_

_I stepped out of the dressing room, gained approval from Nudge ("Oh my gosh! I'm so good at picking out other peoples clothes!"), and then changed out of the dress back into my jeans, long-sleeve thermal shirt and puffer vest. By the time I left the dressing room Nudge and Ella had already bought all three dresses and were waiting impatiently for me. As we exited the store, I could have swore I saw a shadow slip behind a wall, but before I could get a closer look, I ran into a broad chest._

_Fang._

_-Recap end-_

"Jesus!" I screamed, surprised. Fang looked very confused.

"What!? Where!?" he spun around, making a show of looking for "Jesus". I flipped him the bird and allowed myself a small grin. Even though I had made out with him heavily, found a gun in his room and found 90% of the things he did incredibly annoying, he was still my best friend and I had missed him.

But I did find a gun in his room.

_Big_ turnoff.

"Oh my gosh Fang you're here! Thank goodness we missed you it's so boring without you in the car! I mean, Max just sits there all alone in the back writing things down and me and Gazzy are like really cramped in our seat and it's so boring and oh my gosh Ella and Iggy were being totally disgusting yesterday, I mean it's cute that they're dating and all but like nobody wants to see that unless they're a creepy old pervert or something and I'm not and…" I let Nudge ramble on as I tugged my grey beanie on over my messy bun and began to stalk away.

"Hey!" Fang called out, and jogged to catch up with me. "Where ya goin'?" He had this adorable little half-smile thing going on, and it would have worked other than the fact that the boy behind the little half smile might have been a cold-blooded _murder_. I glanced behind me to make sure none of our friends were us, and then pulled him into a deserted alcove.

"Where were you these past two days?" I asked icily. He looked down at me, confusion written across his seemingly-innocent features.

"I had stuff to do," same answer Iggy had given. "Places to go, people to see. Are you mad at me or something?"

"Hell yeah I'm mad!" I whisper screamed.

"Why? What did I even do wrong? My friend from Prescott had tickets to a Death Cab concert, and he invited me to go."

"Oh really? Where was the Death Cab concert?"

"The Crystal Ballroom in Phoenix. Jesus, Max, what's with the interrogation?"

"Oh, nothing. I just find it strange that you were able to see my _all time favorite _band, Death Cab for Cutie, in concert, when they haven't been on tour for the past three months." I glared up into his obsidian eyes. They were usually a pretty dark brown, but they had changed to a stormy black. He knew he was in trouble. "So do you want to tell me where you _really _were, Fang? "Cause I don't taking being lied to very well."

Fang had wiped his face of all emotion, something that I _hated._ "I don't want to tell you."

"Clearly. Why is that, Fang? Something I need to know?" I was hoping to break through his little wall.

He expelled a giant breath. "Okay, Max, you caught me. I…I…"

"Go on." I said frostily.

"I was with another girl."

I felt like I had been punched in the stomach for a moment, before I realized that unless he had been planning on _murdering _his new girlfriend, he was still lying to me.

"Yeah, okay. And I would _totally _believe that, except for the fact that I found a fucking _gun _in your fucking _bag._ So do you wanna tell me what's _really _going on? Because I am just _dying_ to know!"

He looked at me darkly, and then, out of the blue, pulled me into his chest and kissed me on the forehead, before leaning down and whispering in my ear, "Don't ask questions you don't want to know the answer to."

"Wha—? Don't you dare quote Men in Black 3 at me! And I DO want to know!" I said, my voice muffled against his toned chest.

"No," he said into my hair, "You don't."

X

"_SO_," said Iggy loudly from the front of the Bus. "You've never really told us why you to moved back." he was addressing Ella and I.

We were back to driving, Iggy and Ells in the front, Gaz and Nudge in the middle, and me, and now Fang, in the back. Fang had attempted to make conversation with me a few times since we had all piled back into the car, but I had starkly ignored him, opting to write in my journal instead. Nudge had chattered on and on about everything that had happened while he wasn't there, Ella had described our dresses in detail, Gazzy and Iggy had whipped out a bunch of explosives that we didn't know they had brought with them, and I had sat, very quietly, not talking to Fang.

"Well," I began, "Mom, Ells and I were living in Kenmore, which is a suburb of Seattle, in one of the smallest apartments in the entire world. In Seattle, living in a good neighborhood, with no gangs and stuff, in pretty damn expensive."

"Yeah," Ella cut in. "You guys are lucky Chino Vally is so small. Seattle's big, cold and full of not-so-hot people, too. We had to take self defense classes for like 4 years!"

"Anyway," I continued, "We got a call that my Dad, who had been living in the house we live in now, was killed in a drunk driving accident, and…he had, um, left all of his possessions, including the house, to…me. I really don't know why. I hated him."

"Why?" asked Iggy. The whole car was quiet now, listening to the History of Max and Ella.

"He left my mom when I was really young, and he made her pay rent on the house while he lived with another woman. Eventually, my mom couldn't take it anymore, so we just…left."

Ella was way too young to remember this stuff, since I was nearly two years older than her, but she was still just one grade below me. I was old for being a sophomore (turning 16 in December), and she was young for being a freshman (turned 15 in late August).

"I honestly don't really have any memory of him, except for some bits and pieces here and there. You guys probably know a lot more about him than I do. You lived by him for the past 10 years." As soon as Ella, Mom and I had moved out, my dad had moved back in, alone.

"Your dad was always kinda weird." Admitted Nudge. Fang had a strange look on his face, sitting quietly in the corner, "He was barely ever home, and when he was, all he did was clean. Like literally, we could see him through the windows when we came by, polishing and dusting and stuff, and then he would come outside and tend the yard and stuff. He always planted flowers, and the house always looked perfect, what with the way he maintained it. He used to power wash the outside every Sunday, rain or shine, and if the paint ever started to peel, he would leave for an hour or so, and then come back with rollers, brushes and cans of paint, and repaint the _entire _house. For some reason, though, he never did anything to the back yard. He left all of your toys and shit there, and let it get all over-grown. He was…different."

"What do you remember about him?" asked Iggy, taking a sharp turn onto the exit that would take us to Pendleton, Oregon, where we would be eating and sleeping tonight.

"Nothing much. Bits and pieces. Like I already said, he was barley ever home, so I don't have a whole lot of memories. Just fuzzy flashes I get every now and again." It was true. I remembered him painting some toy of mine, I remembered him coming home one night with tears in his eyes, and I remember him sitting on the floor of my room, strumming a guitar. All of my memories of him were faded with time and disuse, and had become so alien to my mind that they were more like surreal, technicolored dreams rather than things that had really happened.

"Oh man. That sucks." Said Iggy, as empathetic as he could get. (Which still wasn't really much, but hey, he tried).

"Not really. According to my mom, my dad was kind of an ass." I said, leaning back in my seat.

"No!" said Fang loudly, speaking up for the first time. We all looked at him strangely. "I mean, um, your dad was okay. He was just…"

But he never got to finish that sentence, because a large black van had just pulled out, directly in front of us.

We were going to crash.

X

Luckily, Iggy, being the incredible driver that he was, slammed on the brakes, yanked the wheel all the way to the right, and let us skid to a fishtailing, rubber-burning, un-crashing stop. The intersection was deserted except for us and the black van that was now speeding away, so we all relaxed and breathed for a moment.

Iggy looked like he was either going to die or throw up, but he managed not to do both as he muttered "Jesus" and clicked the old bus back in gear before continuing slowly down the road.

The car was completely silent now, and as I glanced around, watching everyone slowly regain the color in their faces and begin to smile because, well, _we were alive_, my eyes landed on Fang. He was still completely drained of color, and his fists were knotted in the duffel bag on his lap, his knuckles white. My eyes drifted back to the duffle bag… it was grey with a black stripe running down the side, and to pockets on either end. Pretty ordinary, but there was something familiar about it…

Oh man.

I bet anyone reading this has enough brain cells to rub together to figure out which duffel bag it was.

X

For the rest of the car ride, I was completely silent, clutching my journal to my chest and counting the seconds until I could get the _hell _out of that car.

We pulled up to the curb outside of the hotel (we skipped the Cheese Factory: Nobody really felt like eating), Iggy did his inventory to make sure we wouldn't have to come back to the car in the middle of the night because one of us forgot a toothbrush or something, and we all began to go to our rooms, me practically sprinting. Ella gave me a strange look, handing me our room key and letting go be weird by myself while she and Nudge went to look around the little boutiques in Pendleton.

Our room was a few over from the boys, so I threw my stuff on one of the queen beds, locked the door, and slumped on the floor, plugging myself into my iPod and putting it on shuffle.

"Homicide" by Kid Frost came on. Okay, _not _what I wanted to hear right now. I clicked through it. "Murder Incorporated" by Bruce Springsteen came on. What the hell? I didn't even like that song! Why was it on my iPod? "Killing of a Flashboy" by Suede was on next, so I just gave up on my iPod, as apparently the universe was playing some sort of sick joke on me, and crawled over to my backpack, pulling my bathing suit out of one of the side compartments. Swimming would help calm my taut nerves.

I pulled on the black bikini top and boy shorts, the swim suit I had gotten after being forced to wear the white string-thing of Nudges, and slipped an oversized tee-shirt on before heading down to the pool house.

X

Ahh.

Cool water washed over me as I dove into the hotel pool. I let myself float to the bottom before pushing off of the concrete floor, resurfacing and floating on top of the water.

"Having fun?" I heard a voice from the doorway.

I flipped over to see—yup. Of _course _Fang would show up now.

"I was before you got here." I said in a sickly-sweet voice. I saw hurt register on Fang's face.

"Listen, Max," he said, wading toward me in the water. "I know you're mad—,"

"I think scared is more like it," I told him, cringing away from his approaching figure. He stopped a few feet from me and opened his mouth to speak, but never got to, because there was loud shouting from the doorway and three guys came busting in…

And ohshittheywerecarryingguns.

"Max! Get down!" Fang whispered, pulling me down behind the wall of the pool as I heard two shots ring out in the deadly quiet room. "They don't know we're here yet, but in a second, I'm going to reach for my duffel bag, and I need to you to go underwater and hold your breath for as long as you can. When the shooting stops, run, unless I tell you different. Okay?"

I was frozen, but somehow nodded. He leaned in and pecked me on the cheek. "Okay. One, two, three…go."

I gulped in air and quickly went underwater, staring up through the chlorinated liquid as Fangs blurry image grabbed a grey duffel bag and wrestled out a gun. I saw him duck something before he hauled himself out of the pool and disappeared from my vision.

It was weird. I could hear muted gunshots and shouts, and yet all I could think about was how incredibly hot Fang was.

I was probably in shock.

I would have reflected on this for a bit longer, but I was suddenly being dragged out of the water by a pair of rough, manly hands.

"Ah!" I choked, swallowing pool water, and kicked my leg out roughly behind me. I felt it connect with something soft. I was dropped onto the concrete floor of the pool room as my attacker doubled over in pain from the crotch-shot he had just received.

I was pretty sure my heart wasn't supposed to beat as fast as it was. I somehow regained my composure and dropped into the ready stance before I roundhouse-kicked the man in the temple.

Um, okay, ouch. But it seemed to have hurt him more, because he slumped to the floor. I had knocked him out.

I grinned to myself. Guess four years of Tai Kwon Do hadn't gone to waste after all.

"Two days ago, you took something from us, and we need it _back_!" I spun to see Fang locked in battle with one of the three invaders. The other one was lying on the floor, looking very…dead.

"Well that sucks, doesn't it?" Fang grunted, upper cutting the man and taking their wresting match to the ground. I saw his gun lying uselessly a few feet away. I began to inch my way toward it.

"You—," Grunted the man, "Are an incredibly stupid teenage boy. You won't even know what to do with it!"

"Incredibly. A four syllable word. Obviously you're smart enough to have it." Fang was dominating this guy, but I still inched toward the gun. Just a one more foot…

"You are so god damn annoying!" said the guy, slugging Fang in the stomach. Fang gasped for air.

"Nope," he wheezed, "I'm infuriating." The guy flipped and began to choke Fang.

"Oh, a four syllable word!" the guy mocked, "Good job!"

I raised the gun and pointed it at the back of the man's head.

"Infuriating isn't four syllables," I said, my voice shaking a bit, "It's five."

And then I shot,

Okay, I didn't shoot him. I just shot near him enough to catch him off-guard so Fang could flip him and hold him down.

"Toss me that, would ya?" he held out a hand (the other one was preoccupied clasping the guys hands behind his back. I couldn't have tossed him the gun fast enough. "Okay, now you might want to close your eyes…"

I squeezed my eyes shut tightly just before I heard one more shot ring out in the pool house.

Everything was quiet for a moment.

"I think," I said without opening my eyes, "You should really tell me where you where on Saturday."

**:) Reviewwwwww! And don't forget about the contest! **

**What Max wore to the Mall is posted on my profile too!**

**600 reviews gets you Fax!**

**Also, I will post a prologue of Option 1 and Option 3 soon, as those 2 were the most popular. Then, you guys choose between those 2.**

**Almost 3,000 words! Yay!**


	16. Chapter Preview

**_Okay, so before you guys read this, I wanted to tell you that I posted a link on my profile to me singing the song "Oxygen" from Chapter 14 that "Max" wrote. A couple people have been asking me to do that, so…yeah. Comments on my YouTube video count towards the review contest thingy, so just tell me your pen name and…yeah._**

**Option 1:**Max is a native to the Island. Fang is a 'Townie' who spends his summers on the island. Sparks my fly between them during the summer, but will their fling develop into something more or be washed away by the waves?

**_Chapter 1:_**

"Fuck. My. Life." Nudge stated loudly as she entered my parent's business, Ride the Waves Surf Shop (My last name is Ride. Ride the Waves. _Clever_). Luckily, I was on shift and my parents were out doing other things, so they didn't have the pleasure of being introduced to Nudge's foul mouth.

I straightened up from the surf board I had been waxing, wiped my hands on a rag and brushed my long blond hair out of my eyes. "What happened to you, Lil' Miss Sunshine?"

"Fucking god damned shitfaced Dylan Wate happened, that's what." I glanced around the shop, checking for customers. Luckily, there were none. Tourist season hadn't quite started on Kiawah Island in South Carolina, so everything was pretty dead.

"Oh man, what did he do this time?" I hopped onto a table facing Nudge, who had plopped herself down on the counter, next to the ancient cash register my mom refused to replace. Nudge and Dylan had had an on-again off-again relationship for the past few months, and honestly, things were getting slightly ridiculous.

"This is it, Max. I swear I'm done with him and his bullshit. You wanna know what happened? I went down to see him at his house, and guess who I find with her mouth suction-cupped to his face? FUCKING BRIDGET, THAT'S WHO. And when I walked in I was like, 'What the hell is going on here!?' and he just looks at me with his eyes all bugged out like a dying fish, and Bridget was all straddling him and she looked at me and was like 'Oh, you two are together?' and I was like 'FUCK YOU BITCH!' and—,"

"Wait," I cut off her rant, "I thought you guys broke up like, last week or something?"

Nudge deflated slightly. "Well, we did, but still doesn't give him the right to go fu—,"

The bell chimed on the door, which signaled the arrival of my first customer today. Nudge sighed and hoped off the counter.

"I'll call you tonight!" she said as she excited the shop though the back door. I nodded and hopped over the counter so I was behind the cash register.

"Hey! Welcome to Ride the Waves Surf Shop! If there's anything I can help you with, just let me know!" The shop was a maze of shelves, wet suits, surf and boogie boards, swim suits and more, so I hadn't actually see my customer yet.

"Actually, I was wondering if you knew anybody who gave surfing lessons or something." Came a distinctly male voice from behind a rack of wet suits.

"Well, me, and pretty much everybody else on the island." I responded. Island kids had literally been on the water since they could walk. My parents had basically thrown me into the open as soon as I took my first step, and I had been surfing ever since.

"So how much do you charge like per hour or whatever?" the guy rounded the corner, and I got to see him in full view, and…

Oh damn.

He was wearing black swim trunks, no shirt, no shoes. Our surf shop was right on the beach, so this was a pretty regular occurrence, except it was usually fat old men or zitty thirteen year olds who had just started getting pecs that wandered in shirtless, not fricken underwear models or whatever he was. He had golden-brown skin and black hair that flopped in his brown eyes.

"I—uh—," I stuttered, suddenly very conscious of my white string bikini and short shorts.

He smirked at me and flipped his hair out of his eyes. "You got a staring problem, sweetie?"

Okay, that snapped me out of it. "No, you just look just like my Aunt Margret, and it's kind of freaking me out."

He chuckled, and I saw his eyes quickly scan my body before focusing on something on the wall behind me. "So it says on your little sign that lessons are ten bucks an hour?"

"Twenty if you piss the instructor off." I said jokingly in return. He was probably about my age, maybe eighteen at the most.

"And the instructor would be you?" he asked, leaning casually against the counter and causing me to notice his toned abs again.

"So it would seem."

He chuckled. "Then I'm fucking screwed. Do you take payment before or after?"

"Depends. Can I trust you?" I gave him searching look.

"Sure."

"Cool. Pay me after, then." I pulled out a sheet of paper that had all my surfing lessons scheduled on it. "I have all of tomorrow open, so whenever, I guess."

"Nice. I don't know when my family will let me go, though, so…?"

I ripped off a corner of the paper and scrawled my cell phone number and name. "Call me. I can be at the beach in life 15 minutes no matter where I am." I shoved the piece of paper across the counter as the bell rang, signaling the entry of another customer.

"Alright. See you tomorrow..." He glanced down at the paper, "Max."

I shot him a grin. "Yeah. Hey, I didn't catch your name."

The guy was already walking away to exit the building, but he turned and called over his shoulder.

"Fang. My name's Fang."

I waved at him quickly before turning to greet the next customer.

"Hey! Welcome to Ride the Waves…"

**Option 3:**Max grew 4 inches, got some curves and got some confidence over the summer. Now she's back at school, and with the help of her three best friends, Nudge, Iggy and Fang, she might be able to finally get the guy of her dreams, Dylan. However, as switches herself completely around to fit his type, she may find that what she's been looking for has been there all along.

**_Chapter 1:_**

"Max, I hate to break it to you, but you _need_ to go shopping. And I'm not even saying this because I love to go shopping. I'm saying this because, as your best friend, I will not allow you to start the school year in jeans that are three inches too short and a bra that is two sizes too small," stated Nudge, my best friend, as she frowned at the contents of my closet.

I had to admit, I had undergone a bit of a growth spurt over the summer. I had gone from 5'3 to 5'7, and now I actually had definable hips and boobs, which in my opinion, was a bit of a miracle. However, just because all my jeans were now high waters didn't mean I wanted to go shopping for new ones.

"No."

"Please, Max? We'll go to the small mall in Springfeild!" Nudge knew I hated the Cherry River Mall because it was the size of a fricken military base.

"Nope."

"We'll only stay there for three hours!"

"Still no."

"We'll only buy you basic clothes!"

"Ixnay."

"Like not even any skirts! Well, maybe just one…"

"Uh-uh."

"Well, good luck getting Dylan to notice you looking like a homeless person." Nudge considered anything that was didn't fit or was in some way slightly flawed "homeless person clothes". However, she had struck a nerve; Dylan was, in one word, perfect. I had literally liked him since fourth grade when I had switched out of private school to public school and he had gotten my math folder for me because I was too short to reach the shelf. We had been friends in fourth and fifth grade, but that ended in middle school when everyone else had noticed how awesome he was.

"Please?" Nudge finished.

"…Fine."

"Hallelujah!"

"But seriously—,"

"Hey! Max! Anybody home!?" called a familiar voice through my house. Oh, good. Fang was here. He would be able to calm Nudge down.

"In here!" Nudge grinned evilly at me as she continued. "Hey, Fang! We need an opinion!"

Fang banged open my navy blue bedroom door and flopped down on my white bedspread.

"What's up?" Per usual, he was clothed all in black.

"Do you prefer girls in revealing clothes or girls in conservative shit?"

"I—uh—what?"

**Tell me which one you like better! And watch my utube video! And review for both! Yay!**


	17. Stories, Schools and Faking Deaths

**Tell me which one you like better! And watch my utube video! And review for both! Yay!**

**Alright, so the winner of the story contest is….**

**OPTION 1! Yay!**

**When I finish this story, I'll begin on that one:)**

**And thanks ****to ****_rock3199star_****, _FancyPenguin_ and _I_ _Was Divided by Zero _for reviewing my YouTube video!**

**-**_Recap-_

_"Toss me that, would ya?" he held out a hand (the other one was preoccupied clasping the guys hands behind his back. I couldn't have tossed him the gun fast enough. "Okay, now you might want to close your eyes…"_

_I squeezed my eyes shut tightly just before I heard one more shot ring out in the pool house._

_Everything was quiet for a moment._

_"I think," I said, without opening my eyes, "You should really tell me where you were on Saturday."_

_-End Recap-_

"As you know, when I was younger, I was a bit of a curious kid," Fang began. He was sitting on the edge of the pool, feet dangling in the water, as I sat stiffly on a bench several meters away. "When I was about six, I somehow got it in my mind that it would be the best idea in the world to build a tree house. However, our yard didn't have any trees in it, and yours had that old pinyon-juniper, so obviously I decided that I needed to build my tree house over there."

I momentarily remembered the old tree that used to be in the back yard. Somebody had cut it down after we had moved away. Probably my dad.

"So one day I loaded up my backpack with nails and some cardboard, because what else would you used to build a tree house, right? But I realized I wouldn't be able to climb over the fence. So I went around to the front of the house, and since your dad was never home, I figured I would just be able to sneak through the house and go into the back yard that way. The front door wasn't locked, so I pretty much just strolled on in with my bad-ass six-year-old self."

"I was about in the kitchen when I heard voices. I knew I would be in trouble if I was found, so I hopped into one of the cabinets and cracked the door so I could see what was going on. Two men came into the kitchen. One was your father, and the other I didn't recognized. They were arguing, screaming about something called an "OrbisVelo". I had no idea what that was, but I was scared. Then they got out guns, and I screamed."

"They both froze, and then your dad shot the other man. He must have had a silencer on the gun, because it wasn't very loud, but the other man died really slowly. Your dad took something out of his pocket, and then came and got me out of the cabinet. He carried me into the living room and covered my eyes when we passed the dead man, and sat me down the couch. He turned on some cartoons and made me some of those toaster waffles with chocolate chips in them. Best thing I've ever eaten." Fang grinned shakily. This was obviously a hard thing for him to talk about.

"Then he came over and asked me how old I was. I told him I was six and he looked like he wanted to throw up. He got out a phone, and dialed a number, and went back into the kitchen to talk. I watched Scooby Doo for what seemed like hours. I was still pretty freaked out, crying off and on, but I was scared if I tried to leave your dad would shoot me, too."

"Your dad finally came out of the kitchen. He sat down and told me that the man he had shot had been a bad man, and that it was his job to make sure there were less bad men in the world. I thought that was pretty cool, and then asked if maybe I could do that when I grew up, too. He got this really sad look on his face and then mumbled under his breath 'It looks like you're gonna have to.'. I asked him what he meant, but he just shook his head and picked me up and carried me over to my parent's house."

"My mom answered the door. She had been worried sick, as I had been gone for about 5 hours. Your dad took me to the living room and set me down on the couch. We didn't have Nudge yet, the adoption papers were still being processed, but Iggy came and sat next to me and played Apples to Apples with me. About half an hour later my mom came in the room. She was crying. She took me into the kitchen with her and sat me down on one of the big bar stools and told me Mr. Ride needed me to go away with him for a little while, and that I would have a lot of fun and learn a lot of new things where I was going. I couldn't figure out why she was crying, but I said okay."

"So we packed my things and I left. We drove for a really long time, but I slept for most of it. Believe it or not, Max, but your dad wasn't the biggest talker on the planet. Anyway, we finally got to this building. It was all white in the middle of nowhere, and there was nobody outside. Your dad took me inside and handed me over to a lady with a name badge that said Mrs. Walker on it. I thought she must be alright because she had the same last name as me."

"Before your dad left, though, he knelt down, put his hands on my shoulders and looked me in the eyes before saying, 'You're going to learn a lot here, Nick. But just because they teach it doesn't mean you have to believe it.' And then he left."

"For the next five years, the School was my home. I learned to fight, to think, and to survive. I got to go home for two week periods every three months. Then, when I was eleven, I graduated from the School and got to go back and live with my family. I was still training, but it was your dad who taught me. He was teaching me right up until he…died."

Fang finished his story abruptly.

"Somebody died in my house!?" Okay, maybe not the best thing to say.

"That's seriously all you got from that?" asked Fang incredulously.

"Sorry, sorry. Um…why did they have to train you or whatever?" I asked, trying to gather my thoughts. My dad had been a…what?

"Well, you can't exactly expect a 6 year old to keep a secret like that, so the easiest option was to put me somewhere where I couldn't tell the secret to anyone who didn't already know."

"Why didn't they just wipe your memory or whatever?"

"Believe it or not, the government doesn't actually have little lasers to point at your temple and get rid of the exact memory they want. Memory wiping is pretty hit and miss, especially with a six year old." Fang chuckled a bit and splashed some water around with his toes.

"So you work for the government…?" Fang looked at me strangely.

"…Yes?"

"Oh good. I was afraid my boyfriend was working for some dangerous mob or something."

"Well, basically the same thing." Fang chuckled and I sat down in the pool ledge next to him. I could feel heat radiating off his body. My mind was muddled from the information I had just been given, but all I knew was Fang=Good, and that was enough for me.

He slung his arm around my shoulder and I leaned into his chest, planting a light kiss on the bse of his neck. He chuckled deeply and pulled me only his lap, twisting my body so I was straddling him. I twined my arms around his neck, and he kissed my lips softly before pulling away.

"You're not mad?" He asked shyly, looking at me through his dark eyelashes.

"Why would I be mad?" I asked in return. "You're like a fricken superhero or something."

"You're Maximum Ride. You're always mad." He grinned at me like an idiot before kissing me again and lifting me lightly off his lap. "Any more questions?"

"So you knew my dad pretty well?" Fangs face froze, and I saw a look pass over it that I couldn't read.  
"Yeah, I guess you could say. I was more like a breathing punching bag for him, but he trained me tough. He trained me well." There was something he wasn't telling me, but I didn't want to press.

"So what's up with this Orbo Velcro thing?" I asked mildly, gauging his reaction. His sholders seemed to tense and he glanced around before answering.

"OrbisVelo. And we're not really supposed to talk about it, but it's extremely important. It could save the world. Or, you know, end it, if it were in the wrong hands." I cocked an eyebrow.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, in Latin, 'Orbis' means world and 'Velo' means cover. Nobody really knows anything about it other than that, except for your dad. He was very close to the guy who invented it, and he was the one who took it away from his lab after he was murdered. There are only 2 people in the world who know where the directions to use it are located, and one of them is your dad."

"Who's the other?" I asked curiously.

"Well, that's the thing, Max." said Fang, looking at me sideways from under his damp hair. He was still shirtless and I could see the muscles in his neck flexing. "Your dad always told me that the only other person who knew where the directions were…was you."

I felt like I had the wind knocked out of me for a moment. "Well, I guess you and the government are pretty much fucked, because I have no idea where they are and my dad's dead."

"That's another thing. Um, you see…your dad, Max, well…he's not dead."

**OOOOOHHHHHH cliffy! Review and I'll update faster! Get me to 735 reviews and I'll give you more Fax! and don't forget to check out my YouTube video if you already haven't! Reviews there count for the review contest!**


	18. Doorknobs, Dads and Dances

**45 reviews woooooohoooooo! Yes, I know it's been a while since I have written…but in my defense, I had finals week. So there. **

**I may or may not do another video of Max singing, tell me if I should in your reviews!**

**And finally, my next story, Option 1, will be published when this story is drawing to a close, or after it ends. I don't quite know what I'll call it yet, buuuut….yeah.**

_-Recap-_

_Who's the other?" I asked curiously._

_"Well, that's the thing, Max." said Fang, looking at me sideways from under his damp hair. He was still shirtless and I could see the muscles in his neck flexing. "Your dad always told me that the only other person who knew where the directions were…was you."_

_I felt like I had the wind knocked out of me for a moment. "Well, I guess you and the government are pretty much fucked, because I have no idea where they are and my dad's dead."_

_"That's another thing. Um, you see…your dad, Max, well…he's not dead."_

_-Recap end-_

"What do you mean, he's not dead!?" I screeched. Fang's face had slipped on a smooth, impassive mask that I _hated,_ and I contemplated trying to peel off his face skin.

"I'll explain later, but for now it might be a good idea to get out of here before the find the three bodies stuffed into pool lockers. I've already looped the footage on the security camera, but having a duffel bag full of guns is slightly incriminating." Fang stood up and pulled me to my feet.

"But—," I started.

"I told you, I'll explain later. Now let's go!" He grabbed my hand and dragged me out of the pool house and toward our rooms. I resisted at first, but then thought back to his previous statement about 'incriminating evidence' and decided that the best option was probably to run away fast.

We reached one of our rooms and I unlocked the door, before diving inside, Fang close behind me. He slammed the door shut.

It was silent for a long moment, with only the sound of our heavy breathing lingering in the still air of the room. Fang raised his dark eyes to mine after I had finished hyperventilating, took and deep breathe, and began.

"So, about your dad…"

X

"Fang! Hurry up!" Nudge called frantically from the bus.

Fang and I had, obviously, decided to keep our little encounter a secret from the rest of the group. We had stayed the night at the hotel, and had woken up to a single police car parked outside of the pool house. I gave him a questioning look, to which he responded, "I work for the government. Everything I did was legal."

X

**Schedule for Max's Birthday Trip**

_By Iggy Walker and kind of Nudge too._

**_Day 3_**

8:00- Wake up.

8:30- Eat breakfast, leave Pendleton.

12:30-stop in Yakima to eat lunch.

2:30- Arrive in Kenmore, find Country Inn and Suits.

-Free Time-

X

This is what was handed to me as I entered the bus. It seemed so surreal that I was going to be in Kenmore in a matter of hours, even earlier than I thought I was going to be. I remembered telling Sam a few days ago that I would be arriving at about 6, but I decided not to text him the update because I honestly didn't feel like having a full-blown conversation with him.

Iggy drove us to the nearest McDonalds, and we all got jumbo platters of pancakes, bacon and yellow foam that I'm sure had at least a little bit of legitimate egg in it. After downing our semi-hearty breakfast in the parking lot of the fast food restaurant on the top of a picnic table coated with a thin layer of ice, it was back to the Bus, and back to driving.

The rest of the trip was fairly uneventful, except for when Ella asked Fang where he had been on Saturday. He gave me a long, searching look, and was about to respond, but Iggy cut him off. "A Death Cab for Cutie consort, Ells. Right, Fang?"

"Yeah. It was great."Fang responded seamlessly. I pulled out my phone.

**Iggy knows.**

I saw him pull out his iPhone and scan the text with his quick, dark eyes.

**_Some, not all. When I need someone to cover for me, he knows what to do. You and my mom are the only ones who truly know everything, but Iggy, my dad and Nudge know to not ask too many question_**.

I nodded and put my phone away, plugging myself back into my iPod. I sat there for a moment, in music-induced bliss, before my phone buzzed again in my pocket.

**_You look nice today, btw:)_**

**I'm breaking up with him today. But until then, no more of that…stuff…:P**

I thought for a moment, and pulled out my phone again.

**And nobody looks nice in an orange snow jacket.**

**_'Cept for you._**

**Whatever, dude:)**

X

We arrived in Kenmore at three o'clock pm, a little later than predicted due to some heavy traffic on the highway. By four, all of our stuff was put away into our rooms, and by 4:30 we were on the way to Sam's house with me driving, which Iggy wasn't too happy about, but, as I told him, that's just the way the cookie crumbles.

I pulled up to the taupe colored house a few blocks away from my old school, Inglmoore High, and even closer to the Community Center, where I had spent a good portion of my childhood roller-skating and bowling and such.

I walked up Sam's front porch steps after telling everyone that they did, in fact, have to stay in the car, since this was just between Sam and I. The doorbell chimes with it's three note tune just as I remembered, and I shivered in the frosty air. A moment later, Mrs. Golden, Sam's mom, opened the door. She was one of those super-fit, MILF-moms that dumbass high school guys try to hit on.

"Oh my gosh! Max! I though you moved!" she smiled nervously, looking me up and down. I had never gotten the feeling that she liked me very much, but she had always been courteous, so I guess I couldn't complain.

"I did, Mrs. Golden, but I came back to visit Sam for a couple minutes. Is he home?"

"Yes, he's in his room, I think. Are you two still together…?" I was already padding up the familiar oak staircase, and chose not to respond.

Sam's door was closed, which was strange because he _never _closed his door when I knew him because he was extremely claustrophobic. I stopped outside, looking at the familiar chipped paint where we had carved our initials into the drywall, and the long black mark on the wall from when I had accidentally dragged a wet art project's corner along his white door. I saw the small dent in the doorknob from when Sam had been horsing around with his brother and banged his head on it, getting a minor concussion along with a harsh scolding from his mom. I breathed in the memories, steeled myself, and knocked on his door.

No answer. I tried again, and then twisted the handle, letting it fall open to reveal…

Fuck.

Two people on a bed. Naked. Doing…well, I'm sure you can imagine what they were doing.

"WHAT THE FUCK!?" I screamed, not caring if Mrs. Golden hear me.

The girl, whoever it was, rolled over with a screech, clutching sheets around her body to cover herself. Sam was left completely bare, making my stomach roll unpleasantly.

"Wha—Maxie? What—why—I thought you were gonna be here later—?" The girl had already slipped a dress over her head and picked up her purse. Her honey-colored was out of place, but I recognized her face.

Kate.

We had been friends when I lived here, and she knew Sam and I were still together. She caught me staring at her and looked down guiltily, before mumbling, "I'm gonna go…" before walking swiftly out of the room and down the stairs.

"Clearly you thought I was going to be here later, you fucking asshole." I said with ice in my voice. I don't think I had ever been this angry before in my entire life.

"Max—that—she forced herself on me—,"

"Shut up. You—I can't even look at you right now. I can't believe I trusted you." Okay, so Fang and I had made out. Sam had had _sex_ with Kate. I was so angry I was shaking.

"Max—I'm sorry—!"

"We are done. We are so, so done." I turned on my heel and walked right into a rock-hard chest. Fang.

"So you're Sam?" Fang looked disgustedly down on Sam, who was still naked. Seeing them in juxtaposition made me realize how much taller, stronger and more attractive Fang was. Sam nodded pathetically.

Fang calmly stepped forward, grabbed Sam by the throat, and punched him and hard as he could in the nose. Blood spurted down Sam's unclothed front, but I didn't get to hear very many of his cries of pain because Fang had already grabbed my hand and dragged me out of the room.

Mrs. Golden was taking the stairs two at a time, "What happened!?" she asked, he panic evident.

Fang made a sound I can only compare to a growl. "Tell your son to never, _ever _cheat on a girl again."

I was somewhat shell-shocked, but still managed to find this deeply ironic, since I had cheated on Sam as well, but I didn't tell Mrs. Golden that, because Sam had chosen that moment to dash from his room to the bathroom, still butt-naked and covered in blood. Fang led me the rest of the way down the stairs, and we exited the house through the gaping front door.

X

"Are you fricken' kidding me!?" screamed Tess furiously into the phone. She was another of my friends I had planned to visit, probably my best friend from here, excluding Omega.

"Nope. Kate and Sam were fucking when I walked in." I said angrily. We were back at our hotel. After everyone in the car threatened to go back and murder Sam, we had driven here and Nudge, Ella, and Iggy had promptly fallen asleep. Nudge's head was propped on my stomach, and Ella and Iggy were draped across my legs.

"God, I can't believe her…she told me they were going to the Christmas Dance just as friends. Makes me wanna punch her in her perfect little nose."

"I just wish there was a way for me to get back at him…you know?" Meaning, I wish there was a way for me to show off my hot new boyfriend.

There was a long silence.

"Tess? You there?"

"Well, there is a way…but you'd never do it." She said. I sighed into the phone and rolled my eyes.

"What is it?"

"Well…you could go to the dance and look really, really hot. 'Cause it's tonight and it would be really fun if you did and you could bring your friends!"

"The dance?"

"You know, the Kenmore Winter Dance, held every year the day before Christmas, ring a bell?" Oh, yeah. I had nearly forgotten.

"But we don't have dresses…"

"Actually," came Nudge's evil voice from my stomach, where she apparently wasn't sleeping, "We do."

X

The boys had gone out in search of suits, leaving Nudge, Ella and I in the hotel room. Ella had already pulled her hair up into a braid-y bun with some tendrils left around her face, and Nudge had straightened her hair so it hung in a glossy sheet down her back. Nudge was now working on my hair while Ella did her makeup in the mirror.

I had opted for curls, and Nudge had done a good job on them. My long blonde hair cascaded down my back in a flurry of twists and turns. My makeup was pretty natural since I had promptly glued my eyes together when Nudge had tried to put fake eyelashes on me. I had a little silver on the inside corners of my eyes, and some mascara and blush.

Ella, on the other hand, decided that natural wasn't going to work for her, and had smeared all kinds of goop on her face, along with making her eyes a dazzling pink and silver combination. Nudge was keepin' it classy with some basic black eyeliner, brown shadow and lip gloss. All in all, we looked pretty good, I guessed.

Nudge and Ella had brought several pairs of heels, I found out, because they had been planning on going out to dinner at a fancy restaurant at least once, but none of their shoes fit me, so Nudge had jogged down to one of the nearby stores and come back with some strappy silver size 7 heels for me. She pulled on some similar looking heels, and Ella was already parading around in sparkly silver platforms. We were ready.

"You ready to knock Sam on him ass?" asked Nudge, bumping my hip lightly. I grinned at her.

"Hell yeah."

X

The guys decided to meet us at the dance, so we took the car that we had rented so we wouldn't have to drive the Bus around Kenmore constantly. I was driving, since I knew were the Community Center was. God knows how the boys were going to find it, but I knew they'd get there eventually. The dance started at 8 o'clock and went until midnight, so we were going to grab some food before the dance.

After a health meal of McDonalds and some toothbrush action in the bathroom, we loaded into the car. My phone buzzed on the seat next to me, and I flipped it over to see a text from Fang.

**_Where are you? I won't wait forever!_**

**Yeah you will. **

I smirked at my response as I pulled out of the parking lot and drove the remaining 4 blocks to the Community Center. I saw the three boys standing in front the familiar building, transformed in just a few hours from a fun family center to a shiny, surreal wonderland of black lights and pulsing music. Anyway, from what I could see, Iggy seemed to be in a white dress shirt with shiny grey dress pants and a vest from a three piece suit, Gaz was in white dress pants, a baby blue vest with dark suit coat over the top and red buttons on the sleeves, and Fang was…in black.

We got out of the car and began walking toward them, and I could see that Fang actually wasn't in all black. He had on black dress pants, a white dress shirt with a grey vest over the top and a black leather jacket on over all that, with a black patterned tie that I'd seen him wear before when he had to present a project to his Economics class.

All in all, he looked ridiculously hot.

Nudge immediately gravitated to Gazzy, seeming surprised that he was able to look so good without her help. Ella and Iggy latched on to each other like ticks, and Fang and I were left, staring at each other across about four meters of pavement.

"Hey." he said with a crooked smile. "You clean up nice."

I couldn't help the smile that broke across my face. "You're not so bad yourself."

He stepped toward me, catching my hand in his. I glanced toward our friends to see if they had noticed, but they seemed to have already gone inside. It was just Fang and I standing out here in the freezing cold. Small snowflakes had started to fall around us, dusting the ground and getting caught in Fang's hair. He grinned and brushed my hair out of my face, blowing a snowflake off my cheek.

"You ready for this?" he asked, wrapping his arms around me and kissing the top of my head.

"Uh-huh." I said, my voice muffled by his chest. I pulled away, and he looped his arm through mine as we walked into the dance.

**I thought I should include so cute, sweet Fax to contrast that last stuff;) get me up to 800 and you'll get more o' the good stuff! **

**All dance-related outfits are posted on my profile.**

**Review! Tell me if I should do another YouTube video!**


	19. Suits, Songs and Assassins

**So….yeah. haven't updated in FOREVER. Sorry… but here ya go. This story is nowhere near over, just fyi, but I may begin my new one soon. Love you all, review! Tell me if you like ma songggg.**

_-Recap-_

_He stepped toward me, catching my hand in his. I glanced toward our friends to see if they had noticed, but they seemed to have already gone inside. It was just Fang and I standing out here in the freezing cold. Small snowflakes had started to fall around us, dusting the ground and getting caught in Fang's hair. He grinned and brushed my hair out of my face, blowing a snowflake off my cheek. _

_"You ready for this?" he asked, wrapping his arms around me and kissing the top of my head._

_"Uh-huh." I said, my voice muffled by his chest. I pulled away, and he looped his arm through mine as we walked into the dance._

_-Recap end-_

**Chapter 19:**

We had been there for nearly an hour, and there was still no sign of Sam or Kate. The pulsing lights were beginning to hurt my eyes, and I had a headache forming in the base of my scull. The heels had long since been shed, and Fang and I were currently swaying slowly to a cover of "Wind Beneath my Wings", preformed by the Halos, a local band made up of five guys wearing entirely too much making-up and looking to be about thirty-five.

"This…sucks," Fang whispered in my ear breathily, and I chuckled into his chest.

"Tell me about it. Can we leave?"

"Thought you'd never ask." Fang grabbed my hand and pulled me off the dance floor to begin the search for my shoes. However, just as I spotted one of my shiny silver heels gleaming in a distant corner, a loud, crackly voice came over the microphone.

"Hey Kenmore!" Cue loud cheering, "I know you guys all _love _me and the band playing for ya, but we thought we'd mix it up a bit and give some of you a turn! Do I have any volunteers?"

Dead. Silence.

"Really?" the poor guys said awkwardly. "None?"

No reply.

"Um, me?"

That voice sounded familiar. I glanced over to see Fang making his way up to the stage. He spoke to the guy for a couple seconds before grabbing an acoustic guitar from behind the stage and seating himself on a small stool in front of a microphone. He was obviously not nervous at all, and as he began to strum out the first few chords of a song I had never heard before, his eyes were nowhere but on mine.

_You laugh too hard _

_And you hate your hair_

_When I beat you at Halo_

_You don't even care_

_'Cause you always say you_

_Had to let me win_

This was a strange song…not exactly nice…I frowned at Fang and he grinned at me before launching into the next stanza.

_You're an awful flirter_

_And you can't stand still_

_When you promise something_

_You follow through_

_You're the first person that _

_I've ever let in_

This verse was slightly better. I allowed a grin to creep into my eyes as Fang stared deeply into my own.

_It's these little things that _

_Make it hard to breathe, to breathe_

_It's these little things that make it hard to breathe._

Awwwwww…

_You're the worst liar _

_that I've ever met_

_And you love the rain _

_even though you get wet_

_and your favorite thing to do_

_ is be yourself_

Hey! I was not a bad liar! (Well, maybe compared to Mr. Secret Agent Man…)

_You are always losing _

_Your front door keys_

_And have this strange obsession _

_with nacho cheese_

_You couldn't be any more _

_perfect for me_

Well, he was right about the nacho cheese thing…and the perfect thing, too. We fit together like two puzzle pieces.

_It's these little things _

_That make it hard to breathe, to breathe_

_You couldn't be any more perfect for me._

We grinned at each other at the end of the song, caught in a moment of pure…

And then the shot rang out.

X

The next few seconds seemed to happen in slow motion. I saw Fang fall to the ground and tumble off the stage, and two of the band members reached inside their jackets to pull out guns. The dance attendees were running out the doors like a herd of scared deer, screaming and tripping and crying in their formal-wear, but I just stood there in shock, staring at where Fang had recently been standing.

"Max, I'm right behind you. I'm okay. They can't see me. But you have to trust me, okay? Nod if you trust me." Fang's hot breath tickled my ear. He had somehow ninja-ed his way over to the corner where I was standing, and now seemed to be crouching in an alcove just out of sight of his would-be assassins.

I nodded.

"Okay. On the count of three, I want you to faint backwards. Just fall. And do not open your eyes and do not move, no matter what. Okay? One…two…three."

I let my eyes roll up into my head and let my body go slack, allowing myself to fall backwards…not into his arms. My head thwacked into the ground, and I may have actually passed out for a second, but I stayed true to my word and didn't move, nor did I open my eyes, despite the throbbing pain now radiating through my body. I heard some muttered curses, and then what sounded like two pairs of shuffling feet making their way toward me. The building seemed to be clear now, leaving only the assassins, Fang, and me there.

I sensed somebody kneeling down beside me, and momentarily two fingers were pressed against my neck to take a pulse.

"Hey, she's the one—," Famous last words. I heard muted thwacks and grunts, and then I was being hauled to my feet by Fang and dragged outside. My head was spinning and I saw a slow leak of red oozing from Fang's right arm, making it spin even more. I stumbled, and almost fell, by the caught me a pulled me the last couple feet to the old VW bus.

"Iggy. Get out. Max and I need to go, right now." Iggy and Ella were already situated in the front seats, Nudge and Gaz in the middle row, just like it had been this morning, but this morning felt like an eternity ago now. Iggy didn't move.

"Iggy, I said now! You need to get out. This is serious! I don't want anybody else to get hurt!" I slumped against the side of the bus, dizzy and confused. Ella looked at me with brimming eyes from her seat in the car.

"No. I'm coming with you." Said Iggy firmly. "Everyone is. You _need_ us."

I saw Nudge nod vigorously and Gazzy shake his head in agreement.

"You don't understand! Somebody could die!" said Fang frantically. "The only thing I need from you is to get out of the car."

Iggy shook his head. "You're wrong. You need us. Who's the best driver you know? Me. Who can talk her way out of any situation? Nudge. Who can make a bomb out of a tube of toothpaste and a lemon? Gazzy. And Ella knows more about first aid than anyone else hear from helping her mom in the vet clinic for so long. You need us, Fang. And whether you realize that right now or not, we're coming."

Fang looked at everyone in the car for a moment, silently weighing the pros and cons.

"Fine." He said. "But don't blame me when you die."

**855 reviews for a chapter in FANG's POV! **

**And also, how would guys feel if at some point I did a story where Fang is a college professor in his early twenties and Max is a student?**


	20. Lies, Love and Lust-Inducing Pheromones

_-Recap- _

_"Fine." He said. "But don't blame me when you die."_

**Chapter 20:**

**_Fang_**

"I know a place where we can spend the night." I muttered as I slouched into the backseat. Max cast a worries glance at me, but I avoided her eyes, preferring to stare at the stained grey seat in front of me.

"What was that, oh dark and brooding one?"Iggy, the resident smart ass and current designated drive called from the front seat. Max translated my message to him as I plugged myself into my iPod and stared out the window.

I hated the idea of all of my friends and family coming with Max and I, because, for one, they didn't understand how serious this mission was. Iggy still believed in the nine-year-old interpretation of the CIA, where the ladies are sexy, the men in suits are superheroes, and you always get the girl in the end. The problem was, I knew some damn ugly women in my line of work, I rarely wore I suit, nor was I a superhero, and there was a strong possibility that my girl was going to…well, die.

But I didn't want to think about that.

However, I knew that Iggy would probably get in even worse trouble if I didn't allow him to come along. I knew how he was. He knew just enough about what was going on to be able to get into some serious shit, shit I wouldn't be able to get him out of. It was easier to keep him close and keep him safe.

And besides, Iggy was right about everyone. He was the best driver I knew outside of professional racecar driving, Nudge could talk circles around anybody for days on end, not to mention the fact that she was pretty good at hacking computers (a talent she had acquired in 7th grade when she had to hack into the school's mainframe to change a few not-so-hot English grades), Gazzy could literally make anything blow up, and Ella…wasn't afraid of blood. Obviously, she was our biggest asset.

However, Max was more important that them all. Whether she knew it or not, inside her head she held the secret to…

…well, to be honest, I wasn't quite sure what, but it was important. It had to be, to have half of the CIA searching for the OrbisVelo, and the other half taking down the gangs and other organizations that were looking for it too. I glanced over at Max, relieved to see that she was sleeping. She looked so peaceful, her head propped against the window, her long blonde hair streaming in wavy tendrils all around her. My heart picked up in my chest and my breath caught slightly.

Originally, I was just going to bring Max on my little escapade. I had to, since the other people in search of the OrbisVelo seemed to have gotten wind of her. She was in some pretty deep shit right now, whether she knew it or not, and I had to keep her safe.

Plus, you know I was…kind of…a little bit…maybe slightly…totally and completely in love with her.

I was supposed to get close to her. It was part of why the government had contacted her mother and forced her to move back to Arizona. Because she had known me earlier in her life, they figured it would be easier for me to get close to her, and also, Seattle, from what we could tell, was the base of the cooperation that seemed to network most of the gangs we had discovered trying to get the OrbisVelo. Obviously, one of the most important assets to our plan couldn't just chill around in the heart of danger, so Mr. It, the leader of my branch, had had a talk with her mother, who had, at first, resisted coming back to Chino Valley. However, after some convincing (i.e. threatening), she agreed to move her daughters back on the conditions that their true history be kept from them.

This is where I come in. The government needed information from her, but information that was buried in her deep subconscious, difficult to reach by anyone who wasn't implicitly trusted by her. She needed somebody to coax it out, and, according to extensive research, females tend to trust their romantic partners most.

Part one of my mission was to make her fall in love with me, and then part two was to extract the needed information.

The night that I had come over and we had had our little…um…encounter, was the night I realized that I might actually truly like this girl who before I had only considered a project. Sure, I knew that her actions were mostly a result of the massive amounts Oxytocin and pheromones that I had slipped into her dinner, but that didn't change the twinge of …something.

However, I think the first time I realized how much I actually cared about her was at the mall in Boise, when she had been mad at me. I realized that I actually…cared that she was angry. I didn't want her to be mad at me, either. I wanted to tell her everything, to make her understand, to she would trust me again…trust me, not just for the sake of my mission, but for the sake of…something else.

And then, at the hotel, when I saw the man pull her out of the pool, I had to pause while strangling one of them to watch her fight, how brave she was even though I knew she was terrified. I think it was then that I fell in love with her, because I knew I could never be that brave.

I glanced over at the still sleeping Max, and quietly told Iggy to take a right onto the next exit. I was tempted to lean over and brush the hair out of Max's face, but held myself back.

Me, my mission, and Max, were all so fucked up.

Because after I completed part one and part two, making her fall in love with me and extracting the needed information, there was a part three. I needed to dispose of all the loose ends.

That meant Max had to die.

**OOHHHHHH DAAAAAAYYYYYUUUUUUMMMMM. Yup, I just went there.**

**May the drama continue!**

**Let us try to get to 910 reviews, yeah? Then The will be some star-crossed loving of the Fax type.**


	21. Short chapters, Kissing, and I'M SORRY's

**So yeah…**

**Hi there.**

**It's been forever, and I'll tell you the reason I haven't written in so long…I'm actually writing a _novel_. I'm really excited about it, and if any of y'all feel like reading what I have so far and giving me some opinions, that'd be awesome! **

_ -Recap-_

_Me, my mission, and Max, were all so fucked up._

_Because after I completely part one and part two, making her fall in love with me and extracting the needed information, there was a part three. I needed to dispose of all the loose ends._

_That meant Max had to die._

_-End Recap-_

**_Max_**

"You disgust me on so many levels." Nudge said, looking ready to gag as Gazzy peeled another dirty sock off the bottom of his duffel bag.

"You know, this could be me planning ahead for a future stink bomb." He said diplomatically, grinning lopsidedly up at the petite girl.

"Or it could just be you being your usual horrifyingly repulsive self." I chimed in as I slipped off my Converse. Nudge sent me a look that clearly communicated that she was the only one who was allowed to insult Gazzy, and then turned to continue to reprimand him.

We had arrived at the safe house that Fang had promised, about 4 hours out of Seattle, according to my iPhone's clock. I had slept the entire ride, and had woken as we'd pulled into a long, twisty driveway with a pounding headache and a hollow stomach. We were currently getting ready for dinner, which for me involved flopping down on the couch and finding the TV remote. I hadn't been watching Friends for more than thirty seconds when a presence thwacked itself down on the cushion next to me. Unsurprisingly, that presence was Fang. I Moved to turn off the TV.

"No! This is my favorite part of season four!" Fang jerked the remote out of my hands, eyes fixed on the television set in front of him, before glancing at me sideways and giving me a half smile.

"You are such a dork!" I grinned back at him and poked him in the side.

"Yeah, well…" he said, pulling me into his lap, "I'm _your_ dork."

I put my arms around his neck, knotting my hands in his hair. He gave me a look that I couldn't read, but then he kissed me on the tip of my nose and wrapped his arms around my waist, my face suddenly forced into his broad chest. I took the opportunity to loop my legs around his waist and pull back from the bear hug to kiss him lightly on the lips. It started out soft and sweet, but quickly morphed into something more, something desperate and passionate and full of the craziness of the day events.

Our lips fit together like puzzle pieces, and his tongue traced my lower lip, asking permission for entry. I granted it, allowing him to explore my mouth. We had done this before, in a bed, in fact, but for some reason this time felt more authentic. I allowed my hands to travel down from his neck, outlining the hard muscles of his back through his shirt. He pulled me even closer to him, putting our hips parallel, and he broke the kiss for a moment.

"Max…" Fang groaned softly into my neck, feathering light kisses along my collarbone, "I…"

"Dinnertime!" yelled Iggy from the kitchen. I pulled back from Fang, looking into his amused, coffee-colored eyes.

"He sure can ruin a moment, can't he?"

"Oh yeah." I giggled and rolled off of Fang, making my way to the kitchen.

**So…I'M AWARE THAT THIS IS EXTREMLY SHORT. But what I want to do for the next chapter won't fit, and I really just want to get something to you guys, so...:( **

**REMEMBER, if you want to read the beginning of my ORIGINAL NOVEL, message me. Please. **

**Love love love, Addi **


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